Czech Election

[Guest Warwick Green]

This election was three months ago, June 2nd, decided by PR. The left got 100 seats, the right also 100 seats. The biggest single party elected was the Civic Democrats. They still have not been able to get a government together. It looks as if there will have to be a new election without any session of Parliament having taken place.

If you recall the CPC was able to form a government with only 125 out of 310 seats.

The Czechs have gone to the polls: after eight years in government, the Social Democrats are to make room for the opposition right-of-centre Civic Democrats, with their sweeping promises of pro-market reforms and tax cuts. But that is not the end of the story. The Civic Democrats will only be able to form a majority government if they join forces with the Social Democrats. They have already rejected any form of cooperation with the Communists. The leaders of the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats so far rule out a Grand Coalition, leaving the country in political deadlock.

The weekend's elections have the Czech political scene split in the middle. The lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, is made up of 200 seats. But exactly one hundred MPs will represent the left, in the form of the Social Democrats and the Communists. The other half will be made up of the winning Civic Democrats and the Christian Democrats, both right of centre, along with the centrist Greens, newcomers to the lower house.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/79733