President Havel a hard act to follow on international stage
Both houses of parliament met on Wednesday morning to elect a successor to President Vaclav Havel, who steps down in two and a half weeks time. While it was not at all certain who would win, one thing has been clear for some time - whoever succeeds Mr Havel will have a hard act to follow, particularly on the international stage.
"Mr Havel's greatest achievement was in the field of international politics, because his prestige in the world was enormous, and is enormous, and of course good name of the president was a good name for the country. But you see, the international prestige and domestic politics are two different things."
Mr Zak's opinion that Mr Havel was more of a success on the international front is not uncommon in the Czech Republic. An intellectual born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the president was never really a man of the people, and often rubbed his countrymen up the wrong way. Jiri Pehe, a political scientist who has been an advisor to Mr Havel for several years. He has this to say on Mr Havel's relationship with the Czech people:
"He likes to tell things as he sees them, and he is quite often very critical and has been quite harsh on Czechs."
Perhaps with an eye on posterity, the president's final New Year's address was less moralising and critical of his fellow citizens than in previous years. But, 13 years after he came from obscurity to lead their country, how do people on the streets of Prague regard Mr Havel?
Young man: "He is trying to express himself in a way people really cannot understand. People are not used to politicians speaking to them that way."
Young woman: "A lot of people from other countries who wouldn't normally know the president, they knew him. They like him because he is a writer, and I think he's very smart, he's got character."
Despite mixed opinions on the outgoing president, Jiri Pehe says Vaclav Havel's place in Czech history is assured.
"I think Havel will be remembered for his achievements in foreign policy, but he will also be remembered for playing a very important role in the dissident movement, being the first president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism. And he will also be remembered by quite a few people, certainly by the intellectual elite, for his play writing, because he is a very good playwright."
