Poll: Klaus would win popular vote for president

A new opinion poll released on Saturday claimed that Vaclav Klaus, former prime minister and leader of the opposition Civic Democrats, would emerge as the clear winner if a popular vote were held to elect a new president. The poll, conducted by the Sofres-Factum agency, said Mr Klaus would come first with 34 percent, far ahead of his rivals. The two houses of parliament meet in a joint session on January 15th in a bid to choose a successor to President Vaclav Havel. However observers say the vote could fail to produce a winner, and there is a growing consensus among politicians that the parliamentary election should be replaced by a popular vote.