The presidential dreams of a University of Michigan professor ended today, when, after failing to produce a valid ballot in two previous rounds of voting, Czech lawmakers re-elected the incumbent, Vaclav Klaus, to another five-year term as president of the Central European country, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Czech-born academic, Jan Svejnar, is director of the International Policy Center and a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He had mounted what was initially viewed by many as a longshot bid for the Czech presidency.

Although he was largely unknown in his native country when he began his campaign, billing himself as the agent of change, Mr. Svejnar had the backing of a coalition of leftist parties and had won enough support by last week to force a third round of voting when Parliament, which elects the president, failed to meet the 140-vote threshold required for a winner. Mr. Klaus won today’s vote by 141 to Mr. Svejnar’s 111.

“Even if I was not elected, your support was not in vain,” the Press Association quoted Mr. Svejnar as saying after the result, as he thanked members of the parties that had backed him. He had no comment about his future in politics, the report said. —Aisha Labi