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Current AffairsNew Czech government slowly taking shape
It's been over two weeks since the Czech elections heralded a result no one
really wanted: an election deadlock. The victorious Civic Democrats and
their likely coalition allies could only muster a total of 100 seats—still
one short of a majority in the lower house. Meanwhile, the second-place
finishers, the Social Democrats, were saying that they would refuse to
support a coalition of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and
the Greens. But there seems to have been a shift in thinking now.
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Current AffairsParoubek meets Topolanek for start of crucial post-election talks
Leaders of the two biggest parties in parliament held their first official
talks on Friday since the elections. The meeting, between Mirek Topolanek,
leader of the Civic Democrats, who won the elections, and prime minister
Jiri Paroubek, leader of the Social Democrats, who came second, marks the
beginning of efforts towards finding a way out of the political stalemate
that emerged after the polls produced a hung parliament.
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Current AffairsNewly-elected MP says he was offered bribe - apparently to break parliamentary deadlock
Just days after the Czech election ended in stalemate, allegations of
scandal have already surfaced: a claim that a bribe was secretly offered
to break the parliamentary deadlock. On Tuesday the newly-elected Social
Democrat MP Pavel Ploc - a former Olympic medallist - told the media that
he had been approached by two men and offered 5 million crowns (the
equivalent of 226,000 US dollars) to switch sides. The matter is now under
investigation and charges have already been filed.
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Current AffairsWith deadlock in lower house series of confidence votes possible
The leadership of the Civic Democrats, who came first in this past
weekend's general elections, have launched official talks on forming a new
coalition government. After party chairman Mirek Topolanek was entrusted by
President Vaclav Klaus to lead the talks, he introduced his negotiating
team, who are to hold talks with the Christian Democrats and the Green
Party. Those three parties together have exactly 100 seats in the 200-seat
lower house, so actually forming a government will not be straightforward,
and could involve several votes of confidence. But how does the Czech
system actually work?
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