Parliamentary elections were held in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 2 and 3 June 2006 to elect the members of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p471 A major scandal broke out a few days before the elections when a classified report by Jan Kubice, the head of the anti-organised crime unit, was leaked to the media, accusing the ruling Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) of corruption and interference in police investigations. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Social Democratic Party, the two largest parties, obtained their highest percentage of votes ever. Turnout increased from the previous parliamentary elections in 2002. The elections produced an evenly balanced result. One potential coalition – the Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

s – won exactly half of the 200 seats, while the Social Democratic Party and the

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

(KSČM) held the other half, meaning that either coalition would struggle to pass legislation. Following the elections, 230 days passed without a new government being formed. Eventually, a coalition government formed of the Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL and the Greens passed a confidence vote on 19 January 2007, when two Social Democrat deputies abstained.

Campaign

Several weeks before the elections, police officer Jan Kubice, head of the squad for investigating organised crime, suggested that senior figures from the police and the government were trying to cover up their cooperation with organised crime. He was summoned before a parliament commission a few days before the election where he presented a document; the contents of the document were leaked immediately. The document suggested that former Prime Minister Stanislav Gross had connections with the criminal underground and hinted that Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek was indirectly involved in a murder, dealt with the mafia and was a pedophile. It also contained information about minor officials, some of whom had already been imprisoned for bribery. Paroubek and the others denied these claims and accused the opposition Civic Democratic Party of trying to manufacture a scandal to help them in the elections. After the elections, Paroubek said that the allegations cost his party, the Social Democratic Party, victory and that democracy was in as much danger as in 1948, when the

seized power. He raised the possibility of challenging the election result, though this did not happen.

Campaign Finances

Electoral system

The

consists of 200 members elected for a four-year term. Seats were allocated by proportional representation between those lists that gained over 5% of the national total of valid votes cast. Party lists were presented in 14 regions, with votes cast for a list, although voters were allowed up to two preference votes for candidates on that list. The

has a parliamentary system of government, with ministers being responsible to the

. The Chamber is the most powerful organ of the state with power to override vetoes by the President and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Opinion polls

Results

The election produced a deadlock, leaving all the coalitions which were considered likely before the election (ODS-KDU-ČSL-Greens; ČSSD-KSČM; ČSSD-KDU-ČSL-Greens) with less than the 101 votes required to pass legislation or to pass a confidence vote for the new cabinet in the Chamber of Deputies (100, 100 and 93 votes, respectively). Remaining possibilities included a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

of the Civic Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, which would command a large majority, totalling 155 seats against 45; a minority cabinet of either of the 100-vote coalitions, which would have negotiate with the opposition to get the majority required for a confidence vote or to pass any legislation; or fresh elections. On 26 June, the Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL and the Greens announced that they had agreed on a coalition.

Vote share by district

File:ODS - 2006.svg, ODS File:ČSSD - 2006.svg, CSSD File:KSČM - 2006.svg, KSCM File:KDU-ČSL - 2006.svg, KDU CSL File:SZ - 2006.svg, SZ

By region

Prague

Central Bohemian Region

South Bohemian Region

Plzeň Region

Karlovy Vary Region

Ústí nad Labem Region

Liberec Region

Hradec Králové Region

Pardubice Region

Vysočina Region

South Moravian Region

Olomouc Region

Zlín Region

Moravian-Silesian Region

References

External links

Official election web site, English
*http://www.volby.cz – Official site with detailed results of all elections since 1994 in Czech and English (only for the later dates)
Adam Carr's Election Archive
{{Czech elections Elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Czech