2003 Czech presidential election

In 2003 Václav Havel had served the maximum 2 consecutive terms as President of the Czech Republic, with his second term ending on 2 February 2003. A joint session of the Parliament of the Czech Republic was held on the 15 January 2003 to elect his successor. Before the constitution was amended in 2012 to establish direct presidential election, the President of the Czech Republic was elected indirectly by a joint session of the Czech Parliament. When no candidate achieved a majority in both houses of parliament in the first round, then a second round was held between the best-placed candidate in the Chamber vote and the best-placed candidate in the Senate vote, again with an absolute majority needed to get in both houses, but only among the members who were present at the election. If the second round was also unsuccessful, then in the third round a candidate needed to win a majority of all present members of parliament, but with votes of both chambers being taken together. When no candidate is elected in all 3 rounds, the process would be repeated at further joint sessions until a candidate was elected. == Parties in parliament ==

Other potential candidates == Opinion polls ==

Initial candidates The leading party in the government coalition, the Social Democratic Party, nominated a former justice minister Jaroslav Bureš. He defeated a former leader of his party and Prime Minister, Miloš Zeman, for the nomination, despite Zeman winning a party primary, causing splits in the party. Zeman was a rival of the Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Vladimír Špidla and Bureš was an attempted compromise candidate for the party. He was also supported by the Freedom Union party, another party in the governing coalition. The final candidate in the election was Miroslav Kříženecký, a former military prosecutor, who was supported by the Communist Party. However, there was scepticism that any candidate would be able to be elected in the first ballot on the 15 January 2003. Before the votes the outgoing President Václav Havel delivered a farewell speech for which he received a standing ovation, after urging legislators to follow their conscience. The first vote saw no candidate elected, but with the Social Democrat candidate, Jaroslav Bureš, and the Communist candidate, Miroslav Kříženecký being eliminated with both receiving 46 votes from deputies and senators. Almost half of the Social Democrats lawmakers did not vote for Bureš, highlighting the divisions within the party. with Klaus getting the most votes in the Chamber of Deputies, while Pethart received the most votes in the Senate in all three election rounds. Klaus led throughout and in the third round received 113 votes to 89 for Pithart, but as 84 legislators submitted empty ballots neither was able to reach the required 141 votes. The first ballot showed disunity of ČSSD during the election. It also showed that Klaus has much higher support than it was expected. == Second ballot ==

Following the first ballot the five parties in parliament agreed to try again on the 24 January. The party leadership was reported to have given him an "overwhelming majority" in the vote on the party's candidate. It was expected that second ballot will be duel between Klaus and Zeman. This was nicknamed "Clash of Titans." In the first round Miloš Zeman was surprisingly eliminated after winning 78 votes from deputies and 5 from senators. This led to a third round being held, which Klaus won by 127 votes to 65, but with 85 blank votes Klaus failed to reach the required 141 votes. == Between the second and third ballots ==

The presidential term of Václav Havel finished on the 2 February, which meant that legislators had 30 days to elect a successor according to the constitution. During the period in which there was no president, the powers of the president were assumed jointly by the Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Lubomír Zaorálek. This was the first time the Czech Republic had been without a president. The Speaker Lubomír Zaorálek said on the 7 February that the third ballot would be held on the 28 February. == Third ballot ==

Since the failed second ballot the 3 parties in the governing coalition, the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats and Freedom Union, had held talks in an attempt to agree on a candidate. On the 19 February 2003 the 3 parties nominated Jan Sokol, the Dean of Charles University in Prague, who formerly had for a short time been education minister in a caretaker government. At the third ballot on the 28 February 2003, Václav Klaus led on the first 2 votes against Jan Sokol, but failed to reach the necessary majority, as deputies voted in favour of Klaus, but senators favored Sokol. However, on the third vote Klaus won the support of 142 legislators, narrowly achieving the necessary 141 votes to defeat Sokol who won 124 votes, while 14 legislators abstained and one was absent. Klaus was sworn in as president on the 8 March. ==Aftermath==

After the election the Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla called a vote of confidence, as the coalition had failed to elect the candidate they had backed. This showed that some legislators from the coalition must have voted for Klaus, however the government won a vote of confidence on the 11 March after all 101 government deputies voted in favour in the 200 member Chamber of Deputies, while the whole opposition voted against. Klaus was elected for second term in 2008 and left the office in 2013 when he wasn't eligible to reelection. He endorsed his former rival Miloš Zeman during 2013 presidential election. Zeman previously endorsed Klaus during 2008 presidential election. Zeman's defeat is considered to have strong impact on Czech politics. It is stated that he distanced himself from ČSSD since the election. He later left the party and founded Party of Civic Rights (SPO). He became SPO's presidential candidate in 2013 presidential election and became first directly elected Czech president. His presidency is influenced by his conflicts with leadership of ČSSD. ==References==