Nečas says presidential elections will be upheld

Brno, Jan 1 (CTK) - Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) said yesterday the extent of challenging the direct presidential election law is not so big as to result in the cancellation of the first selection of a new head of state by people.

Incumbent President Vaclav Klaus's second and last five-year term expires on March 7. His successor is to elected later this month.

Until now Czech presidents have been chosen by the two houses of parliament.

Necas said he cannot imagine the Constitutional Court (US) changing or abolishing a part of the constitution on the presidential election, but he allowed of changes to the implementing law.

Senator Tomio Okamura and some other candidates, eliminated from the election have filed complaints with the US, demanding that the presidential election be adjourned and a part of the constitution and the implementing law on the direct election be abolished.

"I can only hardly imagine the Constitutional Court amending or abolishing a part of the constitution," Necas said in a special issue of the Questions of Vaclav Moravec discussion programme.

The programme, broadcast from Tugendhat villa in Brno and participated in also by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-Social Democracy), was held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech and Slovak republics.

Necas also said he does not think that certain parts of the implementing law on the direct presidential election are so bad as to have to be changed immediately.

He said the US could bind parliament to amend the law for the next elecition.

"We will definitely have to very carefully assess the experience with this first election and we will have to agree on changes to the implementing law," Necas said.

He said Slovak politicians also amended the law after the first direct presidential election.

Fico said when Slovakia did not have a president [in the 1990s], this destabilised the political system.

He said the direct presidential election is justified, but he pointed to the imbalance between the president's strong mandate (from people) and his powers.

Yet Fico said he does not expect the Slovak political parties to reach agreement on strengthening the presidential powers in the next ten to 15 years.

Okamura proposes in particular that the condition of 50,000 signatures that independent candidates are to present and two articles of the implementing law that define technicalities of the candidates' registration documents and the registration conditions be abolished.

He also criticises the two-day deadline for filing a remedial measure with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS).

Okamura demands that he be returned to the presidency competition, from which he was eliminated by the Interior Ministry and NSS because he did not collect 50,000 valid signatures.