The Presidential Elections viewed by the average Czech citizen
Yes, everybody's talking about the presidential election. Or are they not? The press reports on it daily and Czech television stations even go as far as visiting the official presidential candidates in their own homes to introduce them to the public. But has that been enough to get the average Czech interested? It seems not.
Many Czechs will recall the very first day Vaclav Havel became president. It was a day filled with hope, happiness, and expectation. Vaclav Havel was the man who was to undoubtedly lead the country out of forty years of Communist rule. He was chosen as he represented human rights and democracy.
"My name is Lenka. I am a university student in Prague. Vaclav Havel was very strong and he was very important as a head of state. A lot of people from other countries who normally wouldn't know about presidents know him. They like him because he is a writer and I think he is very smart. He has character. He is not just a politician and more culture came to the Czech Republic. So, if someone should succeed him I imagine him to be like Havel. Even when he married for the second time he had a lot stories about him and some people stopped liking him as much. But I think that he is very smart and very nice and is a good representative of our country."
"My name is Silvia and I work for an advertising agency here in Prague. I think Vaclav Havel's term lasted too long because I have not been aware of anything lately that he has done. Of course, he performed the tasks he has to fulfil as president but there is nothing else that he's done and he's spent weeks in hospital, not available to do anything."
Mixed feelings there, about Vaclav Havel's presidency and yet it will be no stroll in the park finding a successor. He is to be replaced by someone who will lead the country into the European Union, strive to make it a strong NATO ally and most importantly keep it as respectable as it has been since its existence. But what about the average Czech? How does he/she feel about the presidential elections?
Lenka: "I really know a lot about Vaclav Klaus. I know a little less about Petr Pithart and very little about Jaroslav Bures. It was a new name for me. I suppose that Otakar Motejl will also be on the list of candidates. He would be my favourite because he is the Ombudsman - a man who is supposed to oversee the law. He is smart and intelligent. If somebody is going to be president, he shouldn't have a past in politics already. Motejl is also involved in politics but in a different way. Vaclav Klaus, for example, was very famous and he did a lot, he is diplomatic, but he also had a lot of controversy around him so I'm not sure whether he should be president. Petr Pithart, I like him after Motejl."
Pensioner: "I take the presidential elections in the Czech Republic to be very important. I imagine the president as a person with a good education, deep humanity and with understanding for the reality of life and all that with a bit of popularity. I don't think that any of the candidates are suitable."
Silvia: "If I had the chance to choose a president out of the list of candidates I would chose none of them."
It appears that most Czechs would not know who to choose if it came to a direct popular vote, a scenario that is not as far fetched as it sounds as most parties in parliament have voiced their support for a change in the constitution in order to make a direct vote possible and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has already said he would consider taking such a step if the first round of elections should fail. But would that be a wise idea?
Silvia: "I think it would be a good idea but it would take some time to give the people background information. They would need to know more. You can't have little media coverage and then suddenly tell the people to choose without giving them enough information."
However, a recent public opinion poll that was conducted by the TNS Factum agency at the end of December does suggest that Czechs would make a choice if the direct popular vote were to be introduced. Mr Stanislav Hampl:
"We polled about 500 people in our survey for TV Nova. It was telephone survey so the respondents are selected by probability. This means that there is a random selection of the phone number, certified by individual regions, gender, age groups and educational groups. In the survey we asked the people if they prefer the direct election of the president or that by parliament. We also asked them who they would vote for if there were a direct vote. About 20% were undecided and among the candidates the biggest support was for Vaclav Klaus with about 20% and if we don't take the undecided into account, about a third of those who have decided would vote for Vaclav Klaus. Among the other candidates the biggest support was for Petr Pithart, followed by Otakar Motejl, Jaroslav Bures and Milos Zeman but their support is quite dramatically lower than that for Vaclav Klaus."
The official presidential candidate of the Communist Party, Miroslav Krizenecky, was the only not to have been mentioned by those polled. Does the poll really suggest that Vaclav Klaus has the biggest chances of becoming President if the post were to be elected directly?
Lenka: "This is something that I cannot explain and do not understand. I don't know about this public opinion poll and I can't understand where they get the people from. I fear that our country is losing culture because I see him as a cold-blooded politicians. I fear that the character of the president will be lost. He was very good in the beginning of our democracy. He did a lot of right-of-centre things because he was very strict. But I think he should be independent and not from a political party."
Silvia: "Well, I think that there are a lot of people out there who do not like him. They have their reasons and I would agree with some of them. But still, out of the other candidates he is the most reasonable person. What is most important is that he is not stupid. He is smart and everybody has a past. I think he is able to represent our country."
