Havel regains Czech presidency in run-off CITY EDITION

Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright turned world statesman, was re-elected president of his country last night. The contest was not a walkover, with Mr Havel forced into a second round of voting by parliamentary deputies after he failed to achieve a clear-cut victory. Earlier Mr Havel, who led th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Irish times
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dublin The Irish Times DAC 21.01.1998
Subjects
PRAGUE
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Summary:Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright turned world statesman, was re-elected president of his country last night. The contest was not a walkover, with Mr Havel forced into a second round of voting by parliamentary deputies after he failed to achieve a clear-cut victory. Earlier Mr Havel, who led the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, had failed to garner the majority required in a first round of voting, winning 91 votes in the 200-member lower house and 39 in the 80-seat Senate. He had been widely expected to be re-elected, five years after he became President of the Czech Republic following its split from Slovakia at the end of 1992. The vote comes amid political turmoil after the government of Mr Vaclav Klaus collapsed last month. Mr Havel stood for re-election only months after fighting lung cancer and pneumonia. His popularity has remained consistently high, rarely falling below 50 per cent in the opinion polls, and reaching highs of 88 per cent in 1990 and 87 per cent in January 1997.