Reflections on the current political crisis in the Czech Republic: The introduction of direct presidential elections and the operation of a semi-presidential system
Abstract
Both the fall of the government of Petr Nečas in June of this year and the appointment of Jiří Rusnok as prime minister against the will of most of the political parties in the Czech lower house have re-opened the question of how the institutions in the Czech political system actually function. A few months after Miloš Zeman first took office as president, we are now seeing the logical outcome of introducing a semi-presidential system.
The outcome of the current clash between the president and the Czech Parliament (in both houses) could significantly influence the future form of the relationships between the government, the parliament, and the president.