PRAGUE GUIDE

Prague is the seat of government, parliament and the president. The city itself is governed separately by the local Government of the Municipal City of Prague, headed by a council and a mayor Pavel Bem. Prague is divided into 14 districts each containing its suburbs.

Since the ‘Velvet Revolution' in 1989 Prague's citizens have voted heavily for right-of-centre parties, which is more than in the country generally. The June 2006 elections were fought on issues that included the future of the welfare state and the need to stamp out corruption, but resulted in a stalemate. The centre-right Civil Democratic Party (ODS) led the field with 35.4% of the vote (in Prague, the ODS polled 48.2%), followed by the left-of-centre Social Democrats (CSSD) with 32.3%, the Czech Communist Party (KSCM) with 12.8%, the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) with 7.2%, and the Green Party (SZ) with 6.3%.

Vaclav Klaus, the right-winger and former leader of the ODS party, succeeded Vaclav Havel as president of the Czech Republic in 2003. He was also re-elected for the second time in elections in January 2008. The next presidential election will be held in 2013.