In its June survey conducted very shortly before the election to the Chamber of Deputies, the Public Opinion Research Centre investigated who would be the most acceptable prime minister. The respondents expressed their opinions on nine potential candidates for the post. Although Stanislav Gross (68%) and Petra Buzková (65%), both from the CSSD, are assessed even more positively than Vladimír Špidla, Czech citizens find Mr Špidla very acceptable – shortly before the election, a half of those polled would welcome him as the prime minister.
As regards personalities from other parties, most people would like Petr Pithart (36%) to become the prime minister, followed by Cyril Svoboda (33%), Hana Marvanová (32%), Václav Klaus (29%), Karel Kühnl (22%) and Miroslav Grebeníček (18%). Vladimír Špidla is perfectly acceptable for voters of the CSSD, but often unacceptable for university-educated people, Prague inhabitants, people from Central Bohemia and supporters of the ODS. It is interesting to note, that there are no significant differences in terms of living standards of respondents.
