The eurosceptic opposition trounced the ruling party in the Czech Republic's first European parliament elections but fewer than one in three voters bothered to turn out, according to estimates released Saturday as voting ended.

An exit poll broadcast by Czech public television showed that the Civic Democrats (ODS) won 31 percent of the vote while Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla's ruling Social Democratic party finished in third place, trailing behind the communists.

The ODS, formed by the fiercely eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus after the collapse of communism in 1989, gained nine of the country's 24 seats in parliament, according to the poll.

The Communists obtained 17 percent of the vote and five seats, while the Social Democrats (CSSD) garnered just 10.5 percent of the vote and three seats.

The Social Democrats, whose leadership is increasingly seen as aloof by the electorate, appear to be paying the price for unpopular reforms that have left people with less money in their pockets.

"Third place is definitely not a success," Spidla told journalists, insisting the government would complete its term.

Spidla blamed his party's poor showing on the low turnout in the Czech Republic -- estimated by the exit poll at 29 percent of the country's eight million eligible voters -- which he said favoured other parties with a hardcore of supporters.

"We've never enjoyed a firm core of voters," Spidla said.

By comparison, the turnout in last year's referendum on joining the European Union was almost twice as high at 55.2 percent.

"Obviously government parties always have problems halfway through their term," he said.

If confirmed, the CSSD's result would mean it had lost two thirds of its supporters since the 2002 general elections, gaining less than 20 percent in parliamentary elections for the first time in eight years.

The Czech Republic was the first of the 10 countries mainly from the former communist eastern Europe that joined the EU on May 1 to vote in the elections, with polling spread over two days on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

But many voters favour the ODS's more sceptical attitude to European issues and believe it would fight better for the Czech position in Europe after disappointments on restrictions imposed on movement of new members' workers.

If confirmed once votes are counted, the party's 31 percent of the vote would be its best election result since 1993 when the Czech Republic was established following the split of Czechoslovakia.

ODS head Mirek Topolanek said he was satisfied with the preliminary results.

"We viewed these elections as a referendum on the current government coalition," said Topolanek, while ruling out that the ODS would push for an early general election.

Deputy Prime Minister Petr Mares said Saturday he may quit as head of the Freedom Union (US-DEU), part of the ruling coalition, before his party's national conference in two weeks after the US-DEU failed to win any European Parliament seats.

Czech political analyst Bohumil Dolezal attributed the low turnout to the fact that the European Parliament elections were something new.

"While people are not against the European Union and its institutions, Czechs do not place too much importance on the European Parliament's relevance to them," he told AFP.

While traditional party preferences dominated voting, Czech voters had a choice from an array of colourful candidates including porn star Dolly Buster, former astronaut Vladimir Remek.

Among other parties, the Association of Independents together with the European Democrats won 10 percent and three seats in the parliament, followed by the Independents and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), which each won two seats, according to the exit poll.

The Green Party just missed out on a seat, finishing seventh with 4.5 percent of the vote.