(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the Czech Republic believe their head of state should be chosen through the ballot box, according to a poll by CVVM. 60 per cent of respondents think the Czech president should be elected by the citizens.

In the Czech Republic, the president is elected by Parliament to a five-year term. The Czech president can return bills to lawmakers, and grant pardons to convicted criminals. Current head of state Vaclav Klaus has served as the European country's head of state since March 2003, but he briefly held the office in 1993, when Czechoslovakia was separated into two countries.

In early June 2006, Czech voters renewed the Chamber of Representatives. Final results gave the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) 35.58 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) with 32.32 per cent. Czech parties require at least five per cent of the vote to earn seats under the country's proportional representation system. The final tallies give the ODS, the Democratic Union - Czech People's Party (KDU-CSL) and the Green Party (SZ) 100 seats in the lower house, with the remaining 100 seats going to the CSSD and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM).

The tie among rival factions led to a long political stalemate. On Jan. 9, Klaus re-appointed ODS leader Mirek Topolanek as prime minister. On Jan. 19, the government won a confidence motion in the Chamber of Representatives after a 100-97 vote.

Earlier this month, Klaus discussed the findings of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—which claims there is "a 90 per cent certainty" that global climate change is caused by human activity—saying, "Global warming is a false myth and every serious person and scientist says so. (...) IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavour. It's neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment."

Polling Data

Do you think the Czech president should be elected by the citizens, or should the president be chosen by Parliament?

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