Czech legislative election, 2006
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An election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic took place on 2 June and 3 June 2006.
The election has produced an evenly balanced result. One potential coalition -- the Civic Democratics, Christian Democrats and Greens -- took 100 seats, exactly half. The Social Democrats and Communists comprised the other half of the chamber, making the possibility of a minority Social Democratic government supported by the Communists equally problematic. This suggests that forming a stable government that will last four years will be difficult.
The Social Democratic leader, Jiří Paroubek, is talking of challenging the result and suggesting that democracy is in as much danger as in 1948 (when the Communists seized power). He was also outraged at being accused of pedophilia in newspapers one day before the elections.
Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies consists of 200 members elected for a four year term. Seats are allocated by proportional representation amongst those lists which have gained at least 5% of the national total of valid votes cast.Party lists are presented in 14 regions. Votes are cast for a list but voters are allowed two preference votes for candidates on that list.
The Czech Republic has a parliamentary system of government, with ministers being responsible to the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber is the most powerful organ of the state with power to override vetoes by the President and the Senate.
Results
The election produced a deadlock, leaving the all the coalitions which were considered likely before the election (Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, and Greens; Social Democrats and Communists; Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, and Greens) with less than the 101 votes necessary to pass legislation or to sustain the required confidence vote for the new cabinet in the Chamber of Deputies (100, 100 and 93 votes, respectively).Possibilities at this point include a highly improbable grand coalition of the Civic Democrats and Social Democrats, which would command a powerful majority, adding up to 155 seats against 45; a minority cabinet of either of the 100-vote coalitions, which would have to be at least partly negotiated with the would-be opposition to get the majority required to approve it and pass any legislation; or a new call for fresh elections.
On 26 june, ODS, KDU-CSL and SZ announced, that they have agreed on a coalition. After this treaty, the government has 16 ministers: 10 from ODS, 3 from KDU-CSL and 3 from SZ. The coalition hopes to get the missing vote from CSSD deputies. The CSSD denied tolerating this coalition.
Results of the previous election
External links
- [Official election web site, English]
- http://www.volby.cz - Official site with detailed results of all elections since 1994 in Czech and English (only for the later dates)
- [Adam Carr's Election Archive]
- [Parties and elections]
- [Czech 2006 Election blog by the Prague Daily Monitor]
| Elections in the Czech Republic | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber of Deputies (*ČNR) | 1990* | 1992* | 1996 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | |||||||||||
| European Parliament | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||
| Regional Councils | 2000 | 2004 | |||||||||||||||
| Municipal Councils | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | ||||||||||||
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