News

The results of a poll conducted by the CVVM agency indicate that the majority of Czechs favor direct presidential elections. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they would prefer the president to be elected by the people, 18 percent said the decision-making should remain in the hands of lawmakers.

The ruling Civic Democrats have threatened to lodge a criminal complaint against an independent senator who claims the party attempted to bribe him in last week’s presidential election. Independent senator Josef Novotný said he had been approached by a senator from the Civic Democratic Party and offered two million crowns if he backed the party’s nominee Václav Klaus. The Civic Democrats have denied the allegation and said that unless senator Novotný offers proof of his claim or makes public the name of the senator who allegedly tried to bribe him they would press charges.

Presidential candidate Jan Švejnar has rejected rumors that he is considering withdrawing from the race, on the reasoning that with the appearance of a third candidate his chances of beating incumbent Václav Klaus are significantly lower. Mr. Švejnar’s spokeswoman Klára Pospíšilová said the challenger had no intention of backing out ahead of Friday’s election and hinted that whoever was spreading the rumor intended to damage Mr. Švejnar ahead of the vote. The Czech-American economist’s chances now hinge on the Communist Party, which has attached a number of conditions to its support of Mr. Švejnar, nominating its own candidate in the event of these conditions not being met. Observers say that the nomination of a third candidate – Jana Bobošiková – will boost President Klaus’ chances in the elections since the anti-Klaus vote will be split between two candidates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again warned that his country would target missiles at the Czech Republic if it were to host a US tracking radar on its territory. Speaking at a press briefing for foreign journalists President Putin said the governments of the Czech Republic and Poland should think carefully before agreeing to be part of the US missile defense shield because they would be putting their own people at risk. The Russian president, whose term in office ends in May, moreover underlined the fact that repeated polls in both countries indicated that neither Czech nor Polish citizens wanted US missile defense facilities on their territory. Although neither country has as yet made a commitment, both the Czech and Polish governments are engaged in negotiations with Washington on the missile defense project. The two countries parliaments are expected to vote on the matter in the course of this year.