Right wing opposition tops Czech election in tight race
The right-wing opposition Civic Democratic Party was facing the difficult task of forming a Czech coalition government after a close election left the right- and left-wing blocs level pegging at 100 seats each.
The Civic democrats, led by Mirek Topolanek, emerged as the biggest single party with 35.4 percent of the popular vote after the two-day election which wound up Saturday.
Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's Social Democrats, seeking a third term in office, came in second with 32.3 percent, according to official results released by the Czech Statistical Office.
Although the Civic Democrats came out on top, they face a difficult challenge in putting together a government as right and left wing forces each won 100 seats in the 200-member lower house of parliament.
Paroubek refused to concede defeat, saying the left-of-centre parties could forge a parliamentary majority, and warning that he might mount a legal challenge to the election's validity following the "lies and scandals" thrown at his party during the campaign.
"We have been exposed to unheard of pressure, comparable to that of the pre-1989 totalitarian regime," said Paroubek, whose party was trying to extend its eight years in power.
The Social Democrats were put on the defensive days ahead of the election by allegations from a top police officer that Paroubek along with his interior minister and police chiefs tried to block a murder and corruption investigation that could incriminate top Social Democrats.
The official results showed that the Civic Democrats won 81 seats and their Christian Democrat allies 13. With the probable support of six Green deputies the right could muster only 100 votes.
The Social Democrats won 74 seats and the Communists 26.
The Greens have said they will not join any coalition with the Communists.
Both heavyweight parties have ruled out a German-style grand coalition.
The Communist Party polled 12.8 percent, down from its strong 18.5 percent showing in the 2002 elections, the Christian Democrats took 7.2 percent and the Greens enter the lower house of parliament for the first time with 6.3 percent.
"We have won the elections with the best result since 1992," said Topolanek, whose party campaigned on a manifesto of stamping out corruption and accelerating economic reform.
Without waiting for the count to be completed and the final allocation of seats to be announced, President Vaclav Klaus said he would invite the Civic Democrats to launch negotiations over the formation of a government on Monday.
The head of the largest party in parliament is, according to the Czech constitution, given the first chance to try and form a government.
Communist Party leader Vojtech Filip tried to put a brave face on his party's poor showing, attacking the "brutal" character of a campaign carried out "in a climate of fear." A leading Communist was savagely attacked at the start of the campaign.
Fears of a Communist resurgence, in a country where memories of the Soviet-bloc regime are still fresh, sparked numerous initiatives to encourage a high voter turnout for non-left wing parties.
The final turnout was just under 65 percent compared with 58 percent in 2002.
In the 2002 elections, the Social Democrats polled 30.2 percent, the Civic Democrats 24.3, the Communist Party 18.5, the Christian Democrats 14.3 percent, and the Greens 2.4 percent.
AFP
