prague • The leftist Czech opposition yesterday swept senate elections, crushing the eurosceptic ruling Civic Democrats of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek before Prague takes over the EU presidency.
The liberal Civic Democrats lost their single-vote majority in the upper house in the vote in which 27 out of 81 senate seats were at stake.
The opposition Social Democrats clinched 23 seats against seven they were defending. The ruling party's rout could compromise Topolanek's future as chief of the party, which elects a new leader in December.
The result also raises the likelihood of the Lisbon Treaty sailing through the senate before Prague takes over the rotating European Union presidency on January 1 as the opposition Social Democrats have always voiced their support.
The Czech Republic is one of only three of the 27 EU countries to still approve the treaty, designed to streamline institutions after the bloc's recent eastward expansion and replace the failed constitution.
Prime Minister Topolanek yesterday spoke of the uncertainty voiced by critics on his future, saying: "For me personally it means I'll have to decide whether I'll run for party chairman at the congress" in December.
His main rival in the party, Pavel Bem who is Prague mayor, said: "The party should consider calling an extraordinary congress before the scheduled date in December."
And Social Democrats leader Jiri Paroubek, revelling in what he called a "glittering victory," Saturday made a pitch for snap polls.
"The result of the elections opens the way for the cabinet to resign, and to early elections which could be held next year," he said.
But the result of the senate polls may see the stationing of a US radar base-part of the US missile defence system-on Czech soil blocked as it is promoted by the Civic Democrats.
In the senate elections, the Civic Democrats only secured three out of nine seats they were defending. The Communists took one.
The centre-right governing coalition, comprising the Christian Democrats and the Greens as well and lacking a clear majority in the more powerful lower house, will now have 44 seats in the senate.
Last weekend, the Social Democrats also crushed the Civic Democrats in regional elections, clinching wins in 13 of the 14 Czech regions.
