Svejnar to Lead Czech Republic?
University of Michigan Professor Has a Chance to Become President
The Czech Presidential election is a tight race between President Vaclav Klaus and U.S. professor Jan Svejnar, who has a realistic chance to become President.
University of Michigan professor Jan Svejnar must be causing concern for current Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus. In the February 8, 2008 Presidential election, Klaus was unable to win an absolute majority of votes over Svejnar. Therefore, in accordance with Czech law, the election will be repeated on February 15.
Does a United States University professor have the necessary qualifications to become the next Czech President? Why not? After all, the citizens of the state of Minnesota elected former wrestler Jesse “the Body” Ventura as their governor in 1998. Ventura actually did a fairly good job, if you ignore his controversial public comments.
Svejnar is a Czech-born economist, who used to be an advisor to former Czech President Vaclav Havel. He also has ties to several academic institutes in the Czech Republic.
A proposal by 10 Czech Senators influenced his nomination. Svejnar’s main support base is the Czech Social Democratic Party and the Green Party.
If members of the Czech government believe Svejnar could be an effective President, who are we to argue? If Svejnar does not win the election on February 15, I would not be surprised to see him run again in the next election. Obviously he has enough support to make a strong run at the office.
