Czech Presidential Election, 2008

Czech Presidential Election, 2008

Elections of the President of the Czech Republic by the Parliament of the Czech Republic were held on Friday 8 February and Saturday 9 February 2008, to select a successor to incumbent Václav Klaus' for a five-year term beginning on 7 March 2008. The candidates standing for election were Klaus and University of Michigan Professor Jan Švejnar.

When no winner emerged on the first ballot, another ballot was held on 15 February 2008, barely re-electing Klaus to a second term. The election was marked by party splits and post-Cold War rancor, Germany's Deutsche Welle reported. He signed his presidential pledge with a platinum-plated pen allegedly worth up to 1 million koruna (about US$61,300). A Czech company had donated the pen, one of a limited edition of 10, to Klaus, who promised he would exercise his powers cautiously and conservatively during his second term.