Havel steps down, but no successor yet

2003 - Czech President Vaclav Havel expressed hope that the country’s lawmakers would soon choose his successor. Havel, the dissident playwright who led the “Velvet Revolution”, which toppled Communism peacefully there more than 13 years ago, told reporters that it’s “no catastrophe” that parliament has not yet succeeded in choosing the nation’s second president. The largely ceremonial office will remain vacant, following two unsuccessful attempts by the Czech parliament. Until a new president is chosen, the post will be shared by the prime minister and the speaker of the lower chamber of parliament. Havel met Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and the speaker of parliament’s lower chamber, Lubomir Zaoralek.