On February 8, two friends and I tried to visit the historic Prague Castle, one of the largest castles in Europe and the current home of the Czech government. However, we found ourselves barred from entry due to the presidential election that was occurring that same day. “Democracy in action,” we chuckled, as important-looking people scurried around the castle grounds.
We returned the following day, but were once again unable enter. “President election,” the guard said stiffly. An election takes more than one day? What in the world was going on here?
I later found out that the Czech Senate and Chamber of Deputies spent that Friday and Saturday attempting unsuccessfully to elect a president in the fifth such election since the fall of Communism. (Czech voters elect senators and deputies, who then elect the president). The 281 legislators had gathered in the Prague Castle for what was supposed to be a simple contest between the heavily favored incumbent Vaclav Klaus and the challenger, Jan Svenjar But in what one Czech citizen who I spoke to termed “a disaster,” members of Klaus’ coalition government turned against him, producing a deadlock through three rounds of voting. Opponents accused Klaus of blackmail and threats, Klaus accused them of obstructing the democratic process. There’s no word on whether Katherine Harris was involved.
After a full week of bloviating from Klaus’ supporters, Klaus’ opponents, the media and the Czech citizenry, the legislature met again today and narrowly re-elected Klaus with 141 votes, one more than he needed to win. It appears that Klaus’ largely conservative policies are nominally popular and likely to continue for the next five years. Questions of a direct presidential election are likely to persist, as over half the Czech population supports such a reform. Global warming skeptics are also likely to applaud Klaus’ re-election, seeing that he has called global warming “a false myth.”
But whether or not you care about Klaus’ free market views and anti-environmentalism, one can at least take solace that another country out there is making a ridiculous show of the democratic process.