Second presidential election to be held January 24

Leaders of the parties in parliament have agreed to hold a second presidential election on January 24th. A first attempt on Wednesday ended inconclusively. The Christian Democrats have announced Wednesday's candidate, Senate chairman Petr Pithart, will not be standing in the next elections. The Civic Democrats' candidate will once again be Vaclav Klaus, who won the most votes on Wednesday. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla's Social Democrats are due to choose their candidate on Saturday, with some elements in the party lobbying strongly for former leader Milos Zeman.