1998 Prague municipal election

1998 Prague municipal election

18–14 November 1998
All 55 seats in the Assembly 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Jan Koukal Martin Bursík Party ODS UPP Seats won 21 16 Popular vote 765,777 582,867 Percentage 36.8% 28.1%
Mayor before election Jan Koukal ODS Elected mayor Jan Kasl ODS

The 1998 Prague municipal election was held as part of 1998 Czech municipal elections. Civic Democratic Party has received highest number of votes and formed coalition with Czech Social Democratic Party.[1][2] Jan Kasl became mayor of Prague.[3]

Campaign

The Civic Democratic Party was led by Mayor Jan Koukal. Party's main rival was Union for Prague UPP) led by Martin Bursík. UPP ran on anti-corruption platform and was attacking Koukal's management of the city.[4] Bursík was attacking Koukal during campaign.[5][6]

Results

Party	Vote	%Vote	Seats
Civic Democratic Party	765,777	36.88%	21
Union for Prague	582,867	28.07%	16
Czech Social Democratic Party	363,917	17.53%	10
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia	207,977	10.02%	8
Association of ČSNS, SZ, KAN, D92, MDS, NEZ, PB, OK	56,066	2.70%	0
Prague People for Prague	33,095	1.59%	0
Initiative for Prague Citizens	21,736	1.05%	0

Aftermath

ODS has won the election while UPP was second. Bursík refused coalition with ODS if Koukal leads it. Bursík sought support of ČSSD and KSČM, but Koukal decided to not seek position of Mayor and instead let ODS nominate Jan Kasl. ODS then formed coalition with ČSSD.[7]

References

1. "Volby do pražského zastupitelstva vyhrála ODS". iDNES.cz. 16 November 1998. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
2. Hašek, Michal. "Komunální volby 1998" (PDF). Politologický časopis. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
3. "Novým pražským primátorem je Jan Kasl z ODS". iDNES.cz. 27 November 1998. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
4. Horak, Martin (2007). Governing the Post-communist City: Institutions and Democratic Development in Prague. University of Toronto Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780802093288. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
5. "Martin Bursík otevřel stanici Primátora Koukala v Hloubětíně". iDNES.cz. 8 November 1998. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
6. "Interview BBC". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
7. "Tenkrát na pražském magistrátu". Žena.cz (in Czech). 11 July 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2018.