Politicians to hold final attempt at presidential election

It's been five days since Vaclav Havel vacated the seat of Czech President and although the constitution stipulates that both houses of parliament can begin electing a new head of state thirty days before the end of the term, the Czech Republic is still struggling to find a successor to Vaclav Havel. The public has been showing a growing dissatisfaction with the political parties' inability to find a widely acceptable candidate and there has been an increasing number of voices calling for a direct presidential election. Dita Asiedu reports:

Two attempts to elect a new president having failed, many wonder whether a third attempt would not be just a waste of time. If the three parties in the governing coalition do not succeed in finding a joint presidential candidate, it is highly unlikely that a president will be elected through the current electoral system. To Czechs, their government has failed and there is lots of disappointment in the air:

From left to right: Petr Mares, Milan Simanovsky, Edvard Outrata, Helena Rognerova, photo: CTK

"The president is to be elected by the senators and the MPs. It's their job. So far, they have not done what they are being paid for and it looks like we'll have to do their job."

"I think that it's a disgrace for the nation that we do not have a president. It is what our politicians are here for and they have failed."

"The fact that we don't have a president until now is proof of the inability of our politicians."

It is this pressure from the public, the press, and to some extent international disgrace that may finally have resulted in serious discussions among party leaders over the past few days to find a feasible solution. We spoke to Petr Mares - the leader of the junior coalition Freedom Union, which has been one of the most vocal supporters of a direct vote. Mr Mares though believes that a third attempt to elect a president on February 28th will be successful:

"Yesterday evening I listened very carefully to the speeches of my colleagues, the chairmen of other political parties and my feeling was very strong. They decided to elect the president by themselves. The club of the Social Democrat deputies is now under strong pressure from the side of the public as well as the Social democratic leadership. I was assured by the prime minister that many deputies have already changed their minds and are inclined to talk about candidates who have been rejected two weeks ago. The situation changed a lot during the last two or three days."

According to Mr Mares, the chance is high that the parliament will elect a new president in the third attempt. At the same time, however, political parties have been drafting an amendment to the constitution so that the next president would be elected by the people in a direct vote.