Czechs continue to consider Vaclav Havel (1989-2003) as the best president since the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, according to a survey released today by the STEM/MARK agency.
Vaclav Klaus (2003-2013) is ranked second in the survey, and current President Petr Pavel is third, his standing having slipped slightly since the last survey. Last autumn, Pavel was second in the survey and Klaus was third. Milos Zeman (2013-2023) remains in fourth place.
Czechs have long considered Havel the best president since 1989. Klaus was second in the rankings a year ago, before being overtaken by Pavel last autumn, but he has now returned to second place.
If graded as in Czech schools, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst mark, current President Pavel would receive a solid 3. His average rating has reached 2.9, whereas last October, it was 2.6. People view Pavel positively for his public appearances and for representing and defending Czech interests abroad. They see room for improvement in resolving disputes on the domestic political scene and in uniting society.
“Since the last survey in October 2025, Petr Pavel’s ratings have declined primarily among government voters, which may be a result of an ongoing dispute between some government officials and the president,” said Jan Burianec of STEM/MARK. Pavel had a dispute with the Motorists, among other things, because he refused to appoint their candidate, Filip Turek, as environment minister.
It is still the case that people without a secondary school leaving exam have an above-average preference for Zeman, while Havel dominates among university and college graduates. Klaus has the most consistent rating between sociodemographic groups, while Zeman and Pavel are highly polarising, according to the survey’s authors.
“Upon closer examination, it turned out that, for example, those who consider Petr Pavel the best president are mainly supporters of Mayors and Independents (STAN), Pirates, Civic Democrats (ODS) and the new movement Our Czechia,” added Burianec.
The survey was conducted from 13 April to 4 May, with 1,011 adults participating.
