The current president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, was reelected last night to continue being a president for another 5 years. It was a very close call, however. It took 3 rounds for him to receive the majority of votes (see the table bellow). In the 3rd round he finally received 141 votes (at a joint session of both houses of th parliament) – he needed at least 140 votes to win. His rival Svejnar was defeated by the lesser number of 111 votes. As it was the case in the last week’s election round, Svejnar was betrayed by the communist party at the last minute which had promised to stand by him (maybe because Svejnar’s father was part of the STB (secret communist police) in the past??). Svejnar took his defeat with dignity and told the Czech reporters that it was time for him to take some time off and rest.
Since the Czech Republic is run by the parliamentary system, the president himself doesn’t have much power. Besides appointing the prime minister, the central bank chief and the top judges, his main role is to represent the country abroad.
How do you feel about Klaus reelection? Are you happy or sad? Or you don’t care? Leave a comment!
CR: Znovuzvoleny president Vaclav Klaus bude “panovat” na hrade dalsich 5 let. Vcera vecer se to rozholdo po napinavem 3. kole, kdy obdrzel 141 hlasu (pro zvoleni potreboval nejmene 140 hlasu) oproto Svejnarovych 111 hlasu. Stejne jako pred tydnem Svejnara v posledni chvili nepodporili komuniste, kteri mu v minulosti slibili jejich hlasy (asi proto, protoze Svejnaruv otec byl v STB). Svejar vzal ale porazku jako muz, Klausovi poblahopral a novinarum se sveril, ze si ted na cas pujde odpocinout.
Jelikoz CR funguje na tzv. parlamentarnim systemu, samotny president nema zrovna velkou moc. Jeho hlavni ulohou je representovat Ceskou republiku v zahranici – tedy “klast vence” 🙂
A jak se na to tvarite vy? Jste radi, ze byl Klaus znovuzvoleny?
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/volby/index_view.php?id=297099
http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/02/13/klaus-re-elected-as-czech-president.php
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Had to comment. It was President’s day here (in the States) and the other students in my Czech language class were complaining (just for fun) to our instructor (Ceska z Prahy)that we should not have a quiz on this holiday. Because I am an informed person (thanks to Tanja and her website), I could make the comment that the CZ also has a new (old?) president. Of course, the American students in the class looked blankly at me but it was a moment for the instructor to comment and relate to the country whose language we are learning. Thanks, Tanja.
I looks like you saved the day,Mike! Good for you…Did your instructor get all heated up when talking about the elections? I know from my own experience that lot of them do…and then you can’t shut them up….hoping they would rather give you that damn test:)
Actually, yes, she did. I could watch the emotions at work. She did not look happy. I think we might have gotten some choice words but professionalism won the day and she resolutely progressed to the Czech lesson of the day.
I am very glad that Mr. Klaus was re-elected. Mr. Svejnar is not very “sympaticky”.
I am not into the Czech political scene as my parents are (they still live in Czech) and my mom says that Svejnar sounds like a robot: he knows the right phrases to say but in practice…..not so good.
She also rooted for Klaus and her wish came true!
Klaus is little to arrogant for me. His ideas about the environment are outdated and he does not understand that his job is to represent the Czech people, not himself. On the other hand nobody else is interested and they were literally pulling candidates at the last minute out of a hat.
Actually, I think he did quite a research on the global warming topic and although an economist, he knows his stuff. All he is saying that there is not enough data to prove that global warming is caused by human pollution (it may be a factor but not the main one). I love the environment (I have a degree in biology) but some of the stuff just became nothing more than political agenda for some – and that’s what Klaus is trying to say as well.
Discussion about the validity of global warming and human effect on it has been still a controversy 5 years ago. There are very few scientists that dispute that today. Of course it is a big political issues, it implies that future economic growth will be greatly impacted if we implement the necessary changes. I simply don’t like that that is our president’s agenda. I also don’t like our system that elects presidents in the office.
I agree I think the direct presidential voting is better; although I know of many Americans who do vote but don’t know anything about politics. So, I guess, there are drawbacks on each side…