Election results

On December 15, 2004 Senator Sobotka was elected the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic by 55 senators out of 80.

Senate elections in 2004
1st round 13 737 votes, 43.29%
2nd round 15 876 votes, 72.54%

Elections
3rd legislative term of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
During the 1st plenary session of the Senate on December 19, 2000 new vice-presidents were elected. Doctor Přemysl Sobotka got 51 votes. 
On December 20, the then President of the Senate Petr Pithart appointed him the 1st Vice-President. 
Doctor Sobotka was elected a senator for the first time in 1996 for a two year term, in 1998 he was elected for a standard six year term.

1998
1st round  12 364 votes, 34.5 %
2nd round 12 746 votes,  58.14 %
10 135 votes belong to the city of Liberec, 2611 votes to other municipalities.

1996
1st  round 13 539 votes, 37.47 %
2nd round 15 652 votes, 57.67 %
15 652 votes belong to the city of Liberec, 3 940 votes to other municipalities.

Mayors´ concerns are also my concerns
Senator Sobotka is a great patriot of his hometown Liberec. However, other municipalities in the constituency are of equal importance for him. He has detailed knowledge of his region and often visits neighbouring towns and villages to have business or social meetings. His election motto was “Mayors´ concerns are also my concerns”.
“Since the beginning of my mandate in 1997, I have been interested in problems of our region. After introductory meetings with mayors, including an invitation to visit the Senate, I drove around the whole constituency and got acquainted in details with problems of towns and villages.  All mayors are great patriots and they want to lift even the poorest village form anonymity. They have similar problems and a lot of them. Although they took over the villages in very bad shape, together with majority of citizens, but definitely not with all, they succeeded in ensuring what could be ensured. Villages are supplied with basic powers, some better, some worse, but they are not any destroyed, depopulated and dead areas. The area of Frýdlant has its own troubles with unemployment (the question is whether everybody really wants to work), agriculture, transport services, school fees and opening new border crossings to Poland and Germany. Right here I see a chance to be useful. To go to Europe, you have to cross borders and so I will try to support that activity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Citizens living close to the border are unfortunately discriminated by the regulation saying that people living up to 15 kilometres from the border are different and have different rules for contacts with foreign countries. Because of this regulation they are allowed to import goods only for 1.500 CZK as against us who live further from the border and  are allowed to spend 6.000 CZK. I will try to change the situation because I think that those people must not be punished because of a few smugglers.
My next worry is the road around the Souš dam and the dispute whether to open it in winter or not. Although no one has tried it yet, the project has already been labelled as harmful to the environment. It is necessary to negotiate and discuss and not to ban.
Those may seem as details, as well as weak TV signal, problems with post, telephones, sewage water treatment plant, let alone the Land Fund of the Czech Republic and its relations to municipalities, information from the Land Registry, Revenue Office etc. which bother citizens and mayors. I will initiate amending laws and regulations where a general conclusion can be drawn form the above mentioned problems. I have promised to municipalities to intervene with the authorities where possible.
I admire those mayors who really care about their municipality and its citizens. I like when they say. It is mine and ours as well as my municipality is our municipality.
Thank you mayors that despite all problems we have something to boast about. We should look around and we should not wear blinkers when the criticism is justified”, says Senator Sobotka.

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