8 June 1990 (1990-06-08) – 9 June 1990 (1990-06-09) 1992 → 68 23 68 116 | Turnout 96.79% 23 19 116 19 | |
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Federal elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 8 and 9 June 1990, alongside elections for the Czech and Slovak Assemblies. They were the first elections held in the country since the end of Communist rule seven months earlier, and the first free elections since 1946.
The election saw a comprehensive victory for the movement of President Václav Havel. The Czech wing, Civic Forum, won 68 of the 150 seats in the House of the People and 50 of the 150 seats in the House of Nations. Its Slovak counterpart, Public Against Violence, won 19 seats in the House of the People and 33 in the House of Nations. Civic Forum won 36% of the vote for the House of the People, the most a Czechoslovakian party won in a free election.
The two wings of Havel's movement commanded a strong majority in the legislature, with 87 seats in the House of the People and 83 in the House of Nations between them. It was the only occasion in which a party or alliance won an outright majority of seats in a free election. Voter turnout was 96.2%. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, running in an honest election for the first time in 44 years, made a stronger showing than expected, taking 13 percent of the vote in both chambers to finish second behind Civic Forum.
Although Civic Forum and Public Against Violence had more than enough seats between them to govern without the support of other parties, they sought a broader base. They let it be known that they were willing to go into coalition with all parties except the Communists and the Slovak National Party.