(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for the Czech Republic’s main opposition party is steadily increasing, according to a poll by Factum Invenio. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) in the next legislative ballot, up 3.8 points since November.

The governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is second with 27.8 per cent, followed by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) with 17.5 per cent, the Green Party (SZ) with 7.6 per cent, and the Christian and Democratic Union - Czech People’s Party (KDU-CSL) with 6.4 per cent.

In June 2006, Czech voters renewed the Chamber of Representatives. Final results gave the ODS 35.58 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by the 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 gave the ODS, the KDU-CSL and the SZ 100 seats in the lower house, with the remaining 100 seats going to the CSSD and the KSCM.

The tie among rival factions led to a long political stalemate. In January 2007, Czech president Vaclav Klaus re-appointed ODS leader Mirek Topolanek as prime minister. Topolanek’s government eventually won a confidence motion in the Chamber of Representatives after a 100-97 vote.

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. Czech lawmakers will vote to elect a new president on Feb. 8.

The ODS has endorsed incumbent Klaus as its official candidate, while the Greens will back Jan Svejnar, a U.S. educated economist and former advisor to Czech president Vaclav Havel.

On Jan. 29, the CSSD confirmed it will support Svejnar as well, a fact that could negatively affect Klaus’ re-election bid. CSSD Senate leader Alena Gajduskova said that Svejnar’s "views and positions are closer to the members of the CSSD senators’ group" than those of Klaus.

Polling Data

What party list would you vote for in the next parliamentary election?

Source: Factum Invenio
Methodology: Interviews with 920 Czech voters, conducted from Jan. 11 to Jan. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Archive Search

Over 19,600 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.