Age matters

In countries with direct elections, it's sometimes said that the campaign for the next election begins the day after the previous election ended. Czech politicians don't keep to this in a literal sense, even though they are of course always politicking, but the direct presidential election now presents a completely new situation. In the event that a directly elected president leaves office early for whatever reason, the Constitution requires that the next election be held within 90 days. The implementation law for the presidential election requires that candidates submit their bids at least 66 days before the election, which would give candidates only 24 days to gather the required signatures. This clearly favors the big parties, which can secure the necessary signatures in Parliament. Any independent candidates hoping to run for president next time have to pray that Václav Klaus's successor doesn't die in office.