Czech President Vaclav Klaus was re-elected on Friday, beating off a strong challenge from main opponent Jan Svejnar and ending a tortuous process that had been prolonged by several weeks.
In what was already a second parliamentary ballot, it still took Klaus three rounds of voting to achieve the backing of enough lawmakers to see him safely through to a second five-year term.
Klaus, 66, founder of the rightwing Civic Democrat Party, immediately called for a line to be drawn under what was an ugly campaign, marked by mutual accusations of foul play -- some lawmakers even received bullets in the mail.
PHOTO: AP
"I would like to put this election behind us so that we can now go ahead," Klaus said in his post-election address. "I thank you all for putting your faith in me. I will not disappoint you."
Svejnar, 55, said he had no regrets after a fiercely fought contest in which he portrayed himself as the "change" candidate.
"Even if I was not elected, it was not for nothing," declared the US-based economist who was mainly backed by the Social Democrats.
Klaus finally obtained 141 votes from lower house lawmakers and senators, one more than the threshold required. Svejnar's support by that stage had dwindled to just 111 votes.
Before his victory, Klaus had said support for him meant support for continuity and the importance of traditional values.
"If you do not want to respect our thousands-of-years-old civilization, its Christian values and emphasis on the traditional family and respect for each individual life, do not vote for me.
"If you want to live in a future shaped by fashionable trends, when smoking will be banned and drugs tolerated, when marriage will be dispensed with as an institution and only [same sex] couples will go the town hall for registration ... that is not my program," he said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese