President in contemporary Czech politics

The so-called "opposition contract" between the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) of Milos Zeman and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Vaclav Klaus is often interpreted by commentators as a pact aimed partly against President Vaclav Havel. Both parties claim that, among other reasons, they allied themselves because they wanted to prevent the president from what they call "nonstandard" solutions to the post-election situation. The president said in a recent television interview that in fact the most nonstandard solution of all possible solutions in contemporary Czech politics is the pact between the two parties.

Havel has often criticized Czech political parties for their confrontational behavior and seeking too much power. As a result, he has been often accused of favoring so-called "non-political politics." But during his almost nine years in the posts of the Czechoslovak president and Czech president, he has preferred standard solutions to non-standard ones. The two parties' allusions to his predilection for non-standard solutions thus seem to be more a strategy aimed at explaining why they may want to limit the power of the president.

The only non-standard solution that Havel advocated in the recent past was the formation of the Josef Tosovsky government in January of this year. But the fact the government partly consisted of politicians and partly of non-political experts was a result of a rather nonstandard political situation in which the government was formed. In December 1997 the coalition government of Vaclav Klaus fell apart, after two junior coalition partners of the ODS left the government. At the same time, the ODS split. Political parties were unable to agree on forming a government. In the end, the Tosovsky government won the vote-of-confidence in the parliament, which means it fully conformed to the rules of parliamentary democracy.

Political parties, on the other hand, eventually opted for a nonstandard solution when, rather than adhering to the Constitution in trying to get to early elections, the parliament in March passed a constitutional amendment on calling early elections. The president said several times before the elections that under the constitution he does not necessarily have to ask the chairman of the victorious party to form a government, but he at the same time he stressed that, of course, he does not plan to ignore the results of the elections.

After the elections he asked CSSD Chairman Milos Zeman, the leader of the strongest party, to start political talks on forming the next government. He refrained from intervening in the post-election talks as much as possible, although he did not hide that he would personally prefer some solutions to others. He also said he would ask ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus, leader of the second strongest party, to take over political talks, should Zeman fail.

Shortly after the elections, the president indicated he may in the future hold "working meetings" with the Communist Party. At the same time, he emphasized that the Communist Party needs to reform itself and that any meetings with communist leaders would be difficult as long as the party remains opposed to some basic principles on which the democratic system is based. The president was, nevertheless, immediately accused of wanting to involve the Communists in post-election negotiations--allegedly because he would prefer even a coalition involving the Communists to an ODS-led government.

Like many other accusations made by commentators and increasingly nervous political parties against the president, the president's alleged efforts to involve the Communists were political myths. In fact, Havel mentioned possible working meetings with the Communists because he was repeatedly asked to meet with the Communists by Milos Zeman and encouraged by Vaclav Klaus. Yet, in the end sources in both the ODS and the CSSD claimed that one of the reasons why the two parties had to ally themselves was their fear of the president's efforts to draw the Communist Party into the political mainstream

The relations between the president and the two parties took a turn for the worse after the president openly criticized the two parties' opposition contract, as an attempt to divide power in the state between them. He also said he was afraid the two parties could try to change the constitution and the electoral law in ways that would not represent the interests of the whole society but only the two parties.

Politicians from both the ODS and the CSSD have said that the two parties may try to define more precisely the powers of the president. It is not clear whether such constitutional changes would result in weakening or strengthening the powers of the president. According to some reports, Vaclav Klaus may want to become the country's next president. In such a case, the ODS would hardly support limiting the powers of the president.

In a television interview on 12 July, the president said he had "second-hand" information that the ODS had discussed removing him from his post on charges of treason. Havel was immediately criticized for making publicly allegations he could not prove. On 14 July, however, Petra Buzkova of CSSD told journalists that the idea to remove Havel was indeed raised--albeit in jest--at a joint meeting of the ODS and the CSSD leaderships. Strange as it is to make such jokes at a meeting of the country's two strongest parties, publicizing the whole affair has further contributed to the sense of political malady in the country. Repairing the relations between the president and the two parties may be a protracted process.

Reuters - 17. 7. 1998