At stake in this election:

• 27 seats in the Senate (Senat)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vaclav KLAUS *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK
• Assembly: Czech Republic has a bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consisting of the Senate (Senat) with 81 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna) with 200 seats.

* The president is elected by indirect vote in Parliament to serve a 5-year term.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by indirect vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senate (Senat) 81 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 6-year terms*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna) 200 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* One third of the Senate is renewed every two years.

** A threshold of 5% is required in order for a party to enter the Chamber of Deputies.

Main parties in the Second Round of the electoral race:

• Party: Civic Democratic Party / Obcanska demokraticka strana (ODS)
  • Leader: Mirek TOPOLANEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 14
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 18
• Party: Czech Social Democratic Party / Ceska strana socialne demokraticka (CSSD)
  • Leader: Jiri PAROUBEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 6
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party / Krestan a demokrat. unie - Ceskol. strana lidova (KDU-CSL)
  • Leader: Jiri CUNEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 3
• Party: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia / Komunisticka strana Cech a Moravy (KSCM)
  • Leader: Vojtech FILIP
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 1
• Independent(s): Independent Candidates / Nezavisli kandidati (NK)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Party of Open Society / Strana pro otevrenou spolecnost (SOS)
  • Leader: Pavel NOVACEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Green Party / Strana zelenych (SZ)
  • Leader: Martin BURSIK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Freedom Union - Democratic Union / Unie Svobody - demokraticka unie (US-DEU)
  • Leader: Jan CERNY
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 1
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 4

Main parties in the First Round of the electoral race:

• Party: Civic Democratic Party / Obcanska demokraticka strana (ODS)*
  • Leader: Mirek TOPOLANEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
    • Seats won in last Senate election: 18
• Party: Czech Social Democratic Party / Ceska strana socialne demokraticka (CSSD)**
  • Leader: Bohuslav SOBOTKA
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party / Krestan a demokrat unie - Ceskosl strana lidova (KDU-CSL)***
  • Leader: Miroslav KALOUSEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 3
• Party: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia / Komunisticka strana Cech a Moravy (KSCM)****
  • Leader: Vojtech FILIP
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 1
• Party: Green Party / Strana Zelenych (SZ)*****
  • Leader: Martin BURSIK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Independent(s): Independent candidates / Nezavisli kandidati (NK)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Party of Open Society / Strana pro otevrenou spolecnost (SOS)
  • Leader: Pavel NOVACEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: Freedom Union - Democratic Union / Unie svobody - demokraticka unie (US-DEU)
  • Leader: Jan CERNY
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 1
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 4

* Current seats in Senate: 35
** Current seats in Senate: 6
*** Current seats in Senate: 10
**** Current seats in Senate: 2
***** Current seats in Senate: 0 Jaromir Stetina was elected under the umbrella of the Green Party (SZ) but claims no party affiliation.

Last Parliamentary election:

• The last Senate elections were held on 5-6 November and 12-13 November 2004.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,238,905 (2006)
• Registered Voters: 2,780,914 (October 2006 Number of registered voters in the districts holding elections.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,246,835 (2006)

·         Is Czech Republic a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Czech Republic ratified CEDAW: Yes, succession (22 February 1993)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 31 (Chamber of Deputies); 6 (Senate) (following the 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 28 (2014) 

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Czech Republic a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Czech Republic ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 1,535,835 (est.)