Czech president calls parliamentary election for October

Vaclav Klaus: said the poll will be held on October 9th-10th

Czech president Vaclav Klaus yesterday called a parliamentary election for October 9th-10th, in line with a political agreement to hold polls some nine months early.

The Czech centre-right minority cabinet collapsed in a vote of no confidence in March, halfway through the country’s six-month EU presidency term.

A caretaker cabinet led by independent Jan Fischer was appointed to rule the central European country of 10.5 million until the early election.

The election date was agreed in a deal between the country’s two main political parties, the right-wing Civic Democrats and the left-wing Social Democrats.

Opinion polls show a fine balance between the two groups, with the Civic Democrats (ODS) jumping ahead of the Social Democrats (CSSD) in a poll released last week.

No party is expected to win an outright majority and the next government will most likely be a coalition including some smaller parties, or a minority administration.

The Social Democrats want to increase taxes for the rich and for companies and raise pensions and welfare, and are tolerant of higher budget deficits, even though a severe recession has put the budget under pressure.

The party also promotes friendlier ties with Russia and opposes plans to build a US missile defence base in the country.

The eurosceptic Civic Democrats are strongly pro-American. They introduced a flat tax on personal income and initiated largely unpopular reforms of the pension and health systems. – (Reuters)

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