Václav Havel voted best post-communist president by majority of Czechs in new poll

Prague, Nov 22 (CTK) – Some 55 percent of Czechs are of the view that Václav Havel (1989-2003) was the best president of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia since the 1989 end of the Communist regime, according to a poll conducted by the STEM polling institute in October and released today.

He was followed by former president Václav Klaus (2003-2013) and President Miloš Zeman (since 2013).

Havel was evaluated as the best president by one-fourth of Zeman’s voters.

Havel received a positive assessment when it came to the use of powers and interest in people’s problems, and a negative assessment for the way he appeared publicly and the way he solved political disputes.

Zeman is well evaluated for the use of presidential powers. He also received good marks for interest in people’s problems.

He received a worse assessment in the representation and advocacy of Czech interests abroad, the solution to disputes on the Czech political scene and the way he behaves publicly.

The assessment of the best president split people according to generations and education. The people with elementary education most often prefer Zeman, while those with higher education gave the best rating to Havel.

Young people mostly appreciate Havel for his humanitarian legacy.

The poll was conducted over the phone or online on a sample of 820 Czechs in October.

Evaluation of post-Communist presidents of the Czech Republic (October 2019; % of respondents):