( dpa ) - Czech lawmakers failed to elect a president in the second round of voting, the speaker of the lower house Miloslav Vlcek said as the two houses of parliament resumed their joint session Saturday.
Frontrunner and incumbent Vaclav Klaus, 66, earned the majority of 48 votes in the Senate, while his challenger, Czech-US economist Jan Svejnar, 55, scored the majority of 104 votes in the lower house.
In order to win the round though a candidate needs to win a majority of present lawmakers in both houses of parliament, whose votes are counted separately.
The lawmakers are to eventually proceed to the third ballot, in which the winner must grab a majority of all present lawmakers.
The outcome of the second round suggests that Klaus' victory is within reach, as he has earned 142 votes. Given that 280 lawmakers are present, 141 votes would land him a victory.
However, the pariahs of the Czech politics, the Communists, have vowed to block the vote in the third round to induce a new election with a new candidate for the left.
"We will try to induce another election," Communist member of parliament Jiri Dolejs told public broadcaster Czech Television.
If a winner fails to emerge from the third ballot, the lawmakers must restart the entire process.
The parliamentarians breezed through the initial two rounds of voting in less than an hour late on Friday after an ugly, highly-emotional and protracted battle over whether the new Czech president should be elected by secret or open ballot.
Klaus' supporters from the Civic Democratic Party, which he had co-founded and led, preferred more democratic secret voting, which would benefit their candidate.
In the end Svejnar's camp prevailed by pushing through the open ballot to prevent individuals from switching sides in exchange for backroom deals.
As lawmakers agreed earlier to end the session at 9 pm CET (2000 GMT) Friday, the Svejnar camp pushed through suspending the session on time even before announcing the second round results.
The overnight break before the third ballot thus provided them with extra time for further negotiations.
Failure to elect frontrunner Klaus for another 5-year term at Prague Castle threatens to shake up the ruling Civic Democrats and their fragile centre-right ruling coalition.
Czech presidents have limited powers but the office is highly regarded by the public. The president appoints prime ministers, names judges, suggests Constitutional Court judges to the Senate for approval and picks central banker leaders.
While the eurosceptic and global warming doubting incumbent, who symbolizes the post-communist era, stressed continuity, pro-European political newcomer Svejnar offered to take the country to the future.
"I do not start from scratch ... there is no reason for our country to start from scratch either," Klaus said, while his challenger vowed to be "a knowledgeable president, not a didactic one."