GOVERNMENT
The President
of the Czech Republic is Vaclav Klaus. He was elected on February
28, 2003 and sworn into office on March 7, 2003. As formal head
of state, the president is granted specific powers such as the
right to nominate Constitutional Court judges, dissolve parliament
under certain conditions, and enact a veto on legislation. Presidents
are elected by the parliament for 5-year terms.
The legislature is bicameral, with a Chamber of Deputies (200 seats) and a Senate (81 seats). With the split of the former Czechoslovakia, the powers and responsibilities of the now-defunct federal parliament were transferred to the Czech National Council, which renamed itself the Chamber of Deputies. Chamber delegates are elected from 14 regions--including the capital, Prague--for 4-year terms, on the basis of proportional representation. The Czech Senate is patterned after the U.S. Senate and was first elected in 1996; its members serve for 6-year terms with one-third being elected every 2 years.
The country's highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues, is appointed by the president. Its members serve 10-year terms.
The June 2-3, 2006 general election resulted in the Chamber of Deputies' 200 seats being evenly divided 100-100 between three center-right parties and two parties on the left, with neither side able to form a majority government. The impasse led to months of protracted negotiations during which Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek formed a three-party coalition with the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Greens (SZ). The coalition lost its first vote of confidence 96-99 on October 4, 2006. But some seven months after the election, on January 19, 2007, the coalition succeeded in its second attempt when two renegade parliamentarians from the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) abstained.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Vaclav Klaus
Prime Minister--Mirek Topolanek (ODS)
Foreign Minister--Karel Schwarzenberg (nominated by the Green Party, though not a member)
Ambassador to the U.S.--Petr Kolar
The
Czech Republic maintains an embassy
at 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008, (tel.
202-274-9101).
Type: Parliamentary republic.
Independence: The Czech Republic was established January 1, 1993 (former Czechoslovak state established 1918).
Constitution: Signed December 16, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--Chamber of Deputies, Senate. Judicial--Supreme Court, Constitutional Court.
Political parties (June 2006 election): Civic Democratic Party (ODS), 81 seats; Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), 74 seats; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), 26 seats; Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak Peoples Party (KDU-CSL), 13 seats; Green Party (SZ), 6 seats.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Administrative subdivisions: Two regions--Bohemia and Moravia; 13 administrative districts and Prague.
