Party leaders cautious in comments

As the running results were coming in on Saturday afternoon, party leaders remained cautious in their comments saying they would wait for the final results. Both the chairman of the Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolanek, and Social Democrat leader and Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek have thanked Czech voters for the high turnout. Representatives of the Communist Party have said they are disappointed by their party's showing as they believed the final result would be higher than the exit polls suggested. Christian Democrat leaders said they would like to be part of a stable coalition and said several options were possible. The Greens have called this election a historic moment for their party.