Related articles

With counting for elections to the lower house of parliament completed in 99.9 percent of voting districts, the left of centre Social Democrats were in the lead with 22.1 percent followed by the Civic Democrats on 20.2 percent, according to the Czech Statistical Office. The recently created TOP 09 party was third with 16.7 percent followed by the Communists with 11.3 percent and the Public Affairs party with 10.9 percent. The Christian Democrats and the party of former Social Democrat prime minister Miloš Zeman were both just under the 5.0 percent threshold to entry to the lower house with around 4.5 percent. The turnout was seen at just over 62.5 percent.

Czech Television predicted that these figures would translate into 57 seats in the 200-seat lower house for the Social Democrats. The Civic Democrats would gain 51 seats, TOP 09 41 seats, the Communists 26 seats and Public Affairs 25 seats. The Social Democrats appear to have won seats in most regions of the country apart from the Liberec, Hradec Králové and Central Czech regions won by the Civic Democrats. TOP 09 won in the former Civic Democrat bastion, Prague, with around 27 percent of the vote.

Polling stations closed for the second and final day of elections to the Czech lower house of parliament at 1400 hours on Saturday. Voters have been voting to fill the 200-seat lower house for the next four years. Surveys throughout the campaign put the left of centre Social Democrats in the lead but well short of a majority in the house. That has fuelled speculation that although the Social Democrats might gain the most votes, a centre-right coalition featuring the Civic Democrats and newcomer parties TOP 09 and Public Affairs might be one possible outcome. Twenty five parties contested the elections, the fifth since the country was created from the split with Slovakia in 1993.

Civic Democrat leader Petr Nečas said the results suggested the possibility a “coalition of budget responsibility,” a reference to the possibility of a centre-right coalition, probably with TOP 09 and the Public Affairs party. He added that the Czech Republic had shunned the temptation of populism. Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek said voters seemed to have chosen another direction from that offered by his party. He added that a right-wing coalition looked likely. Asked about his personal position, he said it was too early for a full evaluation.

Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek announced he would stand down as party leader within 10 days following disappointing election results. He said the decision was a personal one and the party needed a new start. Mr. Paroubek said the Czech people had made their decision about which way the country should go and he respected it. He added that the election result was a defeat for the party but also, more importantly, a defeat for ordinary people. The party would have to analyse in the coming days why the final results were so at odds with the pre-election opinion polls which consistently showed the party as a clear election winner. The party would be run by its deputy chairman ahead of a final decision about who the new leader would be, he added. The final result represented a collapse in support since the last elections in 2006 when they gained around 32 percent. The resignation might improve the party's slim chances of taking part in a government.

Christian Democrat leader Cyril Svoboda announced he had tendered his resignation as party chairman. His announcement came as election results from most regions had come through with the long established party falling short of the 5.0 percent threshold needed for entry into the lower house. Mr. Svoboda said he expected the party to convene a meeting in June to decide its future. He added that it faced a clear challenge to rethink its direction. Separately, former Social Democrat prime minister Miloš Zeman said he would step down from the recently formed Party for Citizens’ Rights after it failed also to win a seat in the lower house. The leadership of the Green Party also said it would propose to let a party meeting decide on who would fill the top positions.

With 99 percent of the vote counted in the country’s general elections it is increasingly clear that voters have turned away from the two big parties, the Civic and Social Democrats. Though slightly in the lead with 22.1 percent of the vote the Social Democrats are disappointed by the outcome, which makes it impossible for them to form a centre-left coalition.

Some 15,000 polling stations around the country opened at 2 PM on Friday for Czechs to vote in a two-day general election to the lower house of Parliament. In the fifth general elections held since the country’s establishment in 1993, 25 parties are contesting 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Czech President Václav Klaus cast his vote in a Prague polling station on Friday afternoon; Social Demcorat leader Jiří Paroubek voted in Teplice, north Bohemia, where he’s heading his party ballot, and Civic Democrat leader Petr Nečas in his home town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm in northern Moravia.

The polling stations will close for the night, and re-open on Saturday at 8 AM. Czechs have a chance to cast their ballots until 2 PM on that day. Around 8 million Czech citizens are entitled to vote in the general elections; in the last four years ago, the turnout was just below 65 percent.

This Thursday and Friday marks the third time Czechs abroad – from as far away as Japan or the US – have been able to take part in the national election. Polling stations abroad opened at 14 pm on Thursday – a day earlier than they opened in the Czech Republic. Worldwide as many as 6,000 Czechs expatriates are expected to cast their ballot.

Czechs are going to the polls to cast their ballot in elections to the lower house of Parliament. At the end of a long and sometimes aggressive campaign, the field is still wide open, with neither of the two main parties, the Social and Civic Democrats, expected to win a clear majority of the vote.

Czech political parties are making a last bid to win over wavering voters before polling starts to the lower house on Friday. Leaders of the two biggest political parties will take part in a final television clash. Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek and Civic Democrat leader Petr Nečas face each other for a 90-minute duel on Czech public television on Thursday evening. The debate will be split into three sections: the economy, foreign policy and corruption. A debate on Czech Radio on Wednesday featured personal attacks by the two leaders on each other.

The Civic Democrats held their closing campaign rally in Prague on Thursday afternoon. Their leader ruled out any future deal with the Social Democrats. The Social Democrats have a final evening rally in Brno. Most pre-election polls have put the Social Democrats in the lead but falling short of a majority in the 200-seat lower house.