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In the wake of the country's two day parliamentary elections President Havel has been meeting with political leaders to discuss the formation of a new government. In the course of Sunday the President met with the leader of the Social Democrats, Vladimir Spidla, whose party won over 30% of the vote, the head of the Civic Democrats Vaclav Klaus who suffered a stinging defeat at the hands of the Social Democrats getting only 23% , and the leaders of the Coalition grouping, made up of the centrist Christian Democrats and the liberal Freedom Union, which did worse than expected with just over 14% of the vote. Although the Communist Party did unexpectedly well in the elections placing third with over 18 % of the vote the President has refused to meet with them on the grounds that they do not belong among the democratic forces in Parliament.

The President said he would officially ask one of the party leaders to begin talks on putting together the country's next Cabinet on Monday. Mr. Havel admitted that, under the circumstances, he personally favored a coalition between the Social Democrats and the two centre-right Coalition parties.

The Communist party has protested against efforts to marginalize its influence on Czech politics, despite its relatively high rate of support. Communist Party leader Miroslav Grebenicek told journalists that the party had prepared a three member negotiating team and was ready to join the talks. We find it hard to believe that the Social Democrats would want to uphold a long outdated party resolution about not cooperating with the Communists, Mr. Grebenicek said, referring to a pledge that the Social Democrats made after the fall of communism in an effort to distance themselves from the Communists and build a credible party in their own right. The Communists claim that the Social Democrats should reconsider this pledge because it is allegedly against the wishes of 18% of the electorate. The Social Democrats show no intention of doing so.

Reactions from abroad to the outcome of the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic has been generally positive. The EU commissioner for enlargement Gunter Verheugen said the election results confirmed the Czech Republic's pro- EU orientation and presented the country as a stable democracy. A positive assessment has likewise come from deputies of the European Parliament. German officials have likewise welcomed the idea of a government with a strong pro-EU orientation and the Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda has described the election results as "encouraging for future cooperation". Observers from the OSCE / Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe/ said the elections had been free and fair.

In spite of their election victory the Social Democrats have not received enough votes to give them a majority in Parliament and analysts predict intense negotiations over the formation of a governing coalition. In his first reaction to the early results, Social Democrat leader Vladimir Spidla ruled out a governing coalition with either the Civic Democrats or the Communist Party saying that he would first talk to the centre-right Coalition. He has not ruled out a minority government with support from what he called "democratic parties in Parliament". Voter turnout in the two day Parliamentary elections is reported to have been just under 60%.