Government & politics — Czechia

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day

• history: previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992,
• effective 1 January 1993 amendments: passage requires at least three-fifths concurrence of members present in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2021

• President Petr PAVEL (since 9 March 2023) head of government: Prime Minister Petr FIALA (since 17 December 2021); First Deputy Prime Minister Vit RAKUSAN (since 17 December 2021), Deputy Prime Ministers Marian JURECKA, Ivan BARTOS,
• Vlastimil VALEK (all since 17 December 2021) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on th
• e recommendation of the prime minister elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms); elections last held on 13 to 14 January 2023 with a second round held from 27 to 28 January 2023; next election to be by January 2028; prime minister
• appointed by the president for a 4-year term election results: 2023: Petr PAVEL elected in the second round; percent of vote in the first round - Petr PAVEL (independent) 35.4%, Andrej BABIS (ANO) 35%, Danuse NERUDOVA (Mayors and Independents) 13.9%, Pavel FISCHER (independent) 6.8%; percent of vote in the second round - Petr PAVEL 58.3%, Andrej BABIS 41.6% 2018: Milos ZEMAN reelected president in the second round; percent of vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 51.4%, Jiri DRAHOS (independent) 48.6%

Description

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of: Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in 14 multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote with a 5% threshold required to fill a seat; members serve 4-year terms)

Elections

• Senate - last held on 23 to 24 September with a runoff from 30 September to 1 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2024) Chamber of Deputies - last held on 8 to 9 October 2021 (next to be held by October 2025)

Election Results

• - Senate - percent of vote by party/coalition NA; - seats by party/coalition - ODS 23, STAN 15, KDU-CSL 12, TOP 09 6, ANO 5, SEN 21 4, other 15, independent 1
• composition as of January 2024 - men 148, women 52, percent of women 26% Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party/coalition – SPOLU 27.8%, ANO 27.1%, Pirates and STAN 15.6%, SPD 9.6%, other 19.9%
• seats by party/coalition - ANO 72, SPOLU 71, Pirates and STAN 37, SPD 20
• composition as of January 2024 - men 15, women 6, percent of women 28.6%;

Note

total Parliament percent of women 20.6%

• highest court(s): Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 36 judges, including the court president and vice president, and organized into 6-, 7-,
• and 9-member chambers) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court;
• unlimited terms subordinate courts: High Court; regional and district courts

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

• Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Marian JURECKA]
• Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr FIALA]
• Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Katerina KONECNA]
• Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Michal SMARDA]
• Freedom and Direct Democracy or SPD [Tomio OKAMURA]
• Mayors and Independents or STAN [Vit RAKUSAN]
• Mayors for the Liberec Region [Martin PUTA]
• Action of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO (Akce nespokojených občanů) [Andrej BABIS]
• Party of Free Citizens Svobodni [Libor VONDRACEK]
• Pirate Party or Pirates [Ivan BARTOS]
• Senator 21 [Vaclav LASKA]
• Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Marketa PEKAROVA ADAMOVA]

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one pa
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission

Ambassador Bijan SABET (since 15 February 2023) embassy: Trziste 15, 118 01 Praha 1 - Mala Strana mailing address: 5630 Prague Place, Washington DC 20521-5630

telephone

[420] 257-022-000

FAX

[420] 257-022-809

Email address and website

• ACSPrg@state.gov
• https://cz.usembassy.gov/

chief of mission

Ambassador Miloslav STASEK (since 16 September 2022)

chancery

3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008-3803

telephone

[1] (202) 274-9100

FAX

[1] (202) 966-8540

Email address and website

• washington@embassy.mzv.cz
• https://www.mzv.cz/washington/

consulate(s) general

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York