Czech Republic to vote as planned this week, despite flood disaster

Elections in the Czech Republic will take place as scheduled later this week despite the flood disaster unfolding in parts of the country, the government said on Tuesday.

Representatives will be elected on Friday and Saturday to the assemblies of the country's 13 regions, with the exception of the capital Prague.

In addition, first-round elections to the Senate will be held in some districts on September 20 and 21. One third of the members of the upper house of parliament are newly elected every two years.

If election workers are unable to make it, party representatives or firefighters could help out at polling stations, said Interior Minister Vít Rakušan.

The liberal-conservative government in Prague rejected calls for a postponement from several political figures, including the mayor of the heavily affected city of Opava.

The argument put forward was that the legitimacy of the postponed votes could be challenged in court.

Entire towns and rural areas in the east of the Czech Republic have been flooded. Many schools, which normally serve as polling stations, are currently under water, and power and mobile phone networks are down in several places.