Opinion poll suggests Czechs want Klaus for president
Vaclav Klaus and Jan Sokol stood for the Czech presidency on Friday morning, uncertain about their chances of winning the support of the majority of both houses of parliament. But, as the result of a recent public opinion poll suggests, if the elections were held through a direct popular ballot, it is clear who the winner would be. Dita Asiedu reports:
Sixty-three percent of those polled - mainly the younger and more educated part of the population - supported Mr Klaus, while only 37 percent - mostly less educated Czechs older than 60 years - backed Mr Sokol.
The opinion poll showed that the country's communists are divided over a preferred candidate. In addition, a significant proportion of those supporting the ruling coalition parties - namely the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, and the Freedom Union - would also not support the coalition's official candidate. Two-fifths of Social Democrat voters and a third of Christian Democrat supporters would not put their trust in their party's official candidate, and would instead sway to the opposition.
Sociologist Vera Haberlova from the Stem agency explains why this is the case:
"Among those Czechs who voted for the Social Democrats during the parliamentary elections, you find many who still strongly support the former prime minister Milos Zeman. With him failing to be elected president in the second round of elections, they felt betrayed. Their move to the opposition, away from their party's candidate, is a reaction to that. They feel that Mr Zeman would be pushed aside, into the back seat, if Jan Sokol is elected."
Most people polled, however, did not believe that a president would be elected in the third attempt on Friday. An overwhelming majority said that if this were the case, they would strongly oppose a fourth round and would rather take matters into their own hands to elect the president directly.
