Indirect presidential elections were held in the

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

on 26 January 1993 to elect the first president of the newly independent country. The president was elected by the members of the Czech Republic Parliament, with Václav Havel emerging as the winner. The election was complicated only by attacks of Republicans against Havel and by

bomb threat A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threat ...

to the Parliament.

Candidates

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

- former president of Czechoslovakia and a candidate of governing coalition ( ODS, KDU–ČSL and ODA). *

Marie Stiborová Marie Stiborová (2 February 1950 – 13 February 2020) was a Czech university lecturer, politician, and a member of the Czech National Council and Chamber of Deputies. She was also the candidate for the Communist Party (KSČM) in the 1993 presid ...

- leader of the Left Bloc (coalition of parties

KSČM The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia ( cs, Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2021, KSČM has a membership of 28,715, and is a member party of The Left in the European Parliament ...

and SDL). * Miroslav Sládek - leader of SPR–RSČ.

Opinion polls

Parties in parliament

Results

All 200 Members of Parliament voted. Six of them submitted invalid ballots while 22 submitted empty ballots. Havel received 109 votes and thus won the election in the first round. Communist candidate Stiborová received only 49 votes and Republican candidate Sládek only 14 votes. This is the only presidential election in which the president was voted and elected only by Chamber of Deputies. Havel received 109 votes. It was expected that Havel will receive much more votes because governing coalition had 105 votes and part of opposition promised support to Havel. It is very likely that he didn't receive some votes from Civic Democrats and Christian Democrats (from KDS). Havel was inaugurated on 2 February 1993 and became the first president of the Czech Republic.

References

{{Czech presidential elections

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

Indirect elections Presidential elections in the Czech Republic Czech presidential election