The Czech Republic is a Parliamentary Democracy. There are two houses – House of Representatives and the House of Review - the Senate. The House of Representatives has 200 members. They are elected for four-years. The Senate has 81 members. Senators are elected for six years. The right to vote is general, equal and direct, and voting is confidential. In order to enter the House of Representatives, a party must win at least 5 % of the popular vote. At this moment, there are 5 parties in the Czech Parliament:
1. The Civic Democratic Party (in czech Občanská Demokratická Strana – ODS). It’s policies are is similar to the Conservative party in the United Kingdom.
2. The Christian-Democratic Party ( Křesťansko-demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová - KDU-CSL). It is a Christian-conservative party like, for instance, the CDU in Germany.
3. The Greens (Strana zelených). It’s policies are oriented on ecological issues.
4. The Czech Social Democratic Party (Česká strana sociální demokratická – ČSSD)– It’s policies are typical of the European social-democratic parties.
5. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy – KSČM) – It is a radical leftist party.
| The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic - source |
The president of the Czech Republic, who is the official head of state, is elected indirectly in a joint session of both houses of the Parliament. The President is elected for five years and this term can be extended only once. Current President of the Czech Republic is Mr. Václav Klaus. The prime minister is Jan Fischer (No political party). Czech Republic
Last national elections: 2006, next 2009
http://www.parties-and-elections.de/czechia.html
Last European Parliament election June 2009
See:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/archive/elections2009/en/czech_republic_en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2009_(Czech Republic)