The ruling three-party coalition continues to defy political gravity. The question is how much longer can they manage?
After surviving their second no-confidence vote in the last six months and pushing their budget proposal through the parliament on the same day, the coalition camp got straight back into bickering business, raising the risk of the government falling apart much sooner than its term expires.
The Green Party, the smallest coalition member, threatened to leave the cabinet if the leader of The Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL) Jiří Čunek returns to the cabinet as he announced he would. The former Minister of the Local Development and Deputy Prime Minister resigned from the cabinet last month, when police re-opened investigation into his alleged corruption affair.
The case has been stopped since and Čunek, backed by the party leadership, made it clear he is ready to rejoin the cabinet. That prompted the Greens to announce they would withdraw their ministers from the government if it comes that far, which would break the fragile coalition.
Jiří Čunek himself told Czech TV on Sunday he is ready to wait until the matter is thoroughly discussed with the Greens, but feels entitled to his presence in the cabinet, which is not, however, how many other ministers (including at least one from KDU-ČSL) see it.
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Čunek also refused to say whether he wanted to see Václav Klaus remain the head of state after the presidential elections, to be held February 8 next year, or whether he preferred Michigan-based professor of economy Jan Švejnar taking over.
Švejnar was initially expected to announce whether or not he is running by now, but asked for more time as the political consultations with lawmakers who will be electing the head of state are still ongoing. The Greens who came up with the idea of nominating Švejnar for president are so far the only party to pledge their support.
Social Democrats also nominally support Mr. Švejnar but rumors have it their support is not really solid which may turn fatal in the course of the secret ballot. Communists ans Christian Democrats still want to hear more from the presidential hopeful.
Civic Democrats (ODS), who control 122 seats out of the total 281 in both chambers of the parliament, made it clear they don't need to see Mr. Švejnar as they already decided they would all vote for Mr. Klaus, founder and honorary chairman of ODS.
Mr. Klaus also refused the idea od holding a public debate with his challanger. While Mr. Švejnar believes such an undertaking would help clarify policies of the candidates. The incumbent considers it a waste of time, since it is not public, but lawmakers who are electing the head of state, and they all have had or will have a chance to sound the candidates personally.
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Last week has been quite an exciting one, not just for the politicians, but also for the police who have been involved in the so-far fruitless manhunt, related to the biggest cash robbery in the history of the Czech Republic.
A European arrest warrant has been issued for František Procházka, an employee of the security company G4S, from whose Prague offices 560 million Czech crowns disappeared. The company has offered a reward of over CZK 50 million for information leading to the capture of the new "King of Thieves", who is allegedly armed and has at least one accomplice.
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The two baby girls who were accidentally mixed up in hospital right after their birth and ended up in wrong families for nearly a year are now back with their biological parents. The baby-swap which took place in the city of Třebíč, some 160 kilometres south-east of Prague, made headlines globally and caused headaches locally. The lawyer of both families who have been traumatized by the experience is expected to announce later this month how much money in compensation the families will demand from the hospital.
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Last week, the international survey PISA 2006 was published, based on surveys of 15-year-olds across the globe. Its results revealed some weaknesses within the Czech educational system, first of all, the growing gap between the abilities of pupils in grammar and vocational schools.
"One quarter of Czech pupils are not able to perform the very basic reading skills," the experts warn, meaning that an average trainee can't really explain what he or she has just read.
It only adds to the existing woes of the new Minister of Education Ondřej Liška, who was sworn into the office last Tuesday, the same day that over 100 thousand teachers went on strike to demand higher salaries and more money for education in general.
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Last Saturday was the day when tobacco died in the Czech Republic. Well, at least on the trains which pass through its territory. The state-controlled Czech Railways company has joined neighbouring Austria and Germany and banned smoking on its trains across the country. Sunday was the first smoke-free day for passengers, 81 per cent of whom said in a recent survey they would welcome the ban.
"We want to move in the same direction as other European countries," said Luďka Hnulíková, from the Czech Railways. Amen.
