Poll gives slight edge to presidential hopeful Švejnar regarding public support

A new poll conducted by the STEM agency, commissioned by the opposition Social Democrats, has suggested that around 52 percent of Czechs would vote for Czech-American economist Jan Švejnar for Czech president, if they could. The results were published in the left-leaning daily Právo on Friday. Incumbent president and rival Václav Klaus fared only slightly worse, with 48 percent support in the poll on the upcoming vote. The election will in not decided by the public but by Parliament. Mr Švejnar has been supported by the Social Democrats, the Greens, as well as a number of senators from smaller parties as well as a number of Communist and Christian Democrat lawmakers. Two-thirds of those surveyed by STEM made clear they consider Mr Švejnar a serious rival to the current president. The election will be held on February 8.