The Czech presidential election will start on Feb. 8, the joint session of both houses of the Czech parliament decided on Friday.
Incumbent President Vaclav Klaus became the first and so far the only official candidate. Economist Jan Svejnar may run against him if he receives sufficient support.
Klaus, 66, a right wing politician, was first elected in 2003, replacing his rival Vaclav Havel.
Klaus announced his re-election last February. The senior governing party Civic Democrats legislators handed Klaus's nomination last month.
Svejnar, 55, a liberal economist with U.S. and Czech citizenship, is supported by the junior ruling Greens (SZ) and conditionally also by the Social Democrats, which says it would officially back his candidacy only if he gained preliminary support also from other parties in parliament than the SZ.
Under the constitution, the presidential election comprises maximally three rounds.
In the first round, victory goes to the candidate who gained at least 101 votes in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies and at least 41 votes in the 81-seat Senate.
To win in the second round, a candidate has to be supported by an absolute majority of the present legislators from each of the two houses.
In the third round, deputies and senators vote together and victory goes to the candidate who gained an absolute majority of votes among all legislators present.
If no candidate managed to win in any of the three rounds, a new election, involving new candidates, would have to be held.
In the Czech Republic, the president, a mostly ceremonial role, is allowed to serve for two consecutive terms.
Source: Xinhua
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