(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Jan Svejnar has become the favourite presidential contender for people in the Czech Republic, according to a poll by STEM. 55 per cent of respondents would support Svejnar if they could cast a ballot, while 45 per cent back current head of state Vaclav Klaus.

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, and also serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces. According to existing regulations, Czech heads of state can serve for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.

The governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) has endorsed incumbent Klaus as its official candidate, while the Green Party (SZ) backs Svejnar, a U.S. educated economist and former advisor to Czech president Vaclav Havel.

On Feb. 8, Czech lawmakers participated in the indirect presidential election. In the first two rounds of voting, Klaus won a majority of the votes in the Senate, while Svejnar carried the Chamber of Representatives. The process called for a third round of voting encompassing both houses, where a candidate requires 140 votes to win.

On Feb. 9, Klaus received 139 votes in both houses, followed by Svejnar with 113 ballots. Since no candidate was supported by 140 lawmakers, a new vote will take place tomorrow.

Yesterday, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) nominated European Parliament lawmaker Jana Bobosikova as a presidential candidate. Bobosikova declared: "The KSCM knows that I am not a left-oriented person and it views my candidacy as a hand extended for cooperation in the election of president with other parties. (...) I consider the KSCM a party in Parliament that was elected in a free election and in whose votes all presidential candidates are interested."

Polling Data

If you were a member of the Czech Parliament, which of these two candidates would you vote for in the presidential election?

Source: STEM
Methodology: Interviews with 657 Czech voters, conducted on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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