The Czech Republic holds national elections today that are widely expected to be a close contest between ruling leftists who took the nation into the EU and right-wingers vowing to stop corruption and slash taxes.
The country has enjoyed an economic boom under a centre-left coalition led by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's Social Democrats, but a string of sleaze scandals may damage the government's standing with voters after eight years in power.
Final opinion polls put the rightist opposition Civic Democrats slightly ahead of Mr Paroubek's party, with only three others - the centrist Christian Democrats, the Communists and the Green Party - seen passing the 5 per cent threshold to gain entrance to the lower house of parliament.
But after a campaign marked by verbal and even physical attacks, no party stands a chance of winning an outright majority in the two-day elections and several different alliances are possible in the chase for office.
The likely outcomes are either a centre-right coalition led by the Civic Democrats or a minority Social Democrat cabinet backed by the Communists, who have been shunned since their Soviet-backed totalitarian rule ended in 1989.
Financial markets are closely watching to see whether the government that emerges from the elections is strong and committed to reforms that will be sustainable to cut budget gaps and allow the Czech Republic to adopt the euro.
The Social Democrats and Civic Democrats clashed in the final days of the campaign over accusations by a senior police official that Mr Paroubek and other top officials were hindering investigations into organised crime to shield colleagues.
Mr Paroubek, who took over the Social Democrats last year after they were battered by financial scandals and led them back into the race, has rejected the accusations.
The Social Democrats balance a pro-business stance with promises to boost social spending on pensions and families, to be financed by fast growth and dividends from state firms. They say they will take the country into the euro zone by 2010.
The Civic Democrats pledge deep reforms to achieve long-term stability in health care, pensions and the budget.
Preliminary results are expected tomorrow evening.