At stake in this election:

• 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vaclav HAVEL
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Milos ZEMAN
• 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.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senate (Senat) 81 members are elected by simple majority vote 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 renewable every two years.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Czech Social Democratic Party / (CSSD)
  • Leader: Milos ZEMAN
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 74
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 61
• Party: Civic Democratic Party / (ODS)
  • Leader: Vaclav KLAUS
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 63
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 68
• Party: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia / (KSCM)
  • Leader: Miroslav GREBENICEK
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 24
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 22
• Party: Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party / (KDU-CSL)
  • Leader: Josef LUX
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 20
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 18
• Party: Freedom Union / (US)
  • Leader: Jan RUML
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 19
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Party: Association for the Republic / (SPR-RSC)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 0
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 0
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0

Last Parliamentary election:

• Elections to the Chamber of Deputies last held on May 31-June 1, 1996 to decide 200 seats.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,294,373 (1998)
• Registered Voters: 8,116,836 (June 1998 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,289,142 (1998)

·         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: 30 (Chamber of Deputies); 9 (Senate) (following the 1998 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: 1,544,155 (est.)