Indirect presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic on 8–9 February 2008, in which Parliament elected the President.[1] The candidates standing for election were the incumbent president Václav Klaus and University of Michigan Professor Jan Švejnar.[2]
When no winner emerged on the first ballot, another ballot was held on 15 February 2008, with Klaus narrowly elected for a second term. The election was marked by party splits and post-Cold War rancor, Germany's Deutsche Welle reported.[3] He signed his presidential pledge with a platinum-plated pen allegedly worth up to 1 million koruna (about US$61,300). A Czech company had donated the pen, one of a limited edition of 10, to Klaus,[4] who promised he would exercise his powers cautiously and conservatively during his second term.[5]
