Second attempt to find Havel successor to begin next Friday
Party leaders decided earlier today that a second attempt to elect a president will take place next Friday - January 24th. This second poll follows Wednesday's inconclusive attempt to choose a successor to Vaclav Havel, who steps down in early February. But if this second attempt fails, parties will most likely begin the lengthy process of changing the constitution to allow a popular vote, something which enjoys overwhelming public support. But not all politicians are in favour of direct presidential elections - some say the current parliamentary system simply needs reform. Among them is Senator Richard Falbr, of the senior coalition Social Democrats.
"The fact is that the electoral law is absolutely stupid, because every law must end with the election of somebody. But if you do not have the security that somebody's going to be elected, then your behaviour is neither disciplined nor willing to elect somebody. And this is precisely what we have, because the law should have been written in such a way that the end had to be the election of someone. We can have three, four, five elections with no result. It will be necessary to make agreements among the ruling coalition parties. It's very frustrating, and very funny, to have a coalition which has a majority, but doesn't have a common candidate."
It's not ideal for the Czech Republic is it? This is a period in which we have the run-up to the referendum on whether to join the European Union, Czech soldiers could soon be going into action in the country's first ever shooting war. Not having a head of state at this time is rather unfortunate isn't it?
"Exactly. But when I look at the behaviour of [my parliamentary colleagues] I don't think they mind too much. The fact is that in case we do not have a president, then his functions are divided between the prime minister and the speaker of the lower house. But of course this is a not a situation one can be happy about, because in these difficult times having a head of state would be very useful."
Social Democrat senator Richard Falbr, speaking there to Rob Cameron. And Radio Prague will be bringing you full coverage of next week's second presidential election.
