Havel to support the Green Party in October election

Václav Havel and Ondřej Liška chatting in Hrádeček cottagevětší obrázekAutor: Jan Symon

Hrádeček - Czech former president Václav Havel will support the Green party in the upcoming October early elections, according to the Greens leader Ondřej Liška.

Liška met Havel in his Hrádeček summer house, which was almost constantly under police surveillance before the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

Havel is adamant that the Greens' presence in the Chamber of Deputies is in the interest of public, said the Green leader Liška.

"Havel believes that the Greens have a chance to be elected in the Chamber of Deputies," he added.

The first post-communist president lent support to the Greens in the May European Parliament elections, in which the eco-oriented party did not cross the 5-percent threshold.

In 2006 parliamentary elections, the Greens earned 6 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and were part of the centre-right ruling coalition before the government was voted down in April. 

Some analysts say the snap elections to be held on October 6 will be a tough test of the party's popularity with the Czech public. The recent polls have indicated the Greens would lose again.

Two former Green members - Olga Zubová and Věra Jakubková - were expelled from the party following frequent bickeringvětší obrázekAutor: Tomáš Adamec, Aktuálně.cz

Experts believe that the Greens have been losing the support of the public because of bickering inside the party. Two of the party members were expelled earlier this year. One of them, Olga Zubová, ran in the EP elections for a newly formed Democratic Green Party (DSZ).

She soon left the party to join the ranks of the opposition Social Democrats ČSSD), which has recently fielded her for the October elections.