President says he was mislead by PM

President Vaclav Klaus has said he was misled by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek when Mr Paroubek was first named to the government last year as Minister for Local Development. At the weekend the Prime Minister admitted in the media he had been in conflict of interest on at least three counts at the time of his naming. He made the statement apparently to show it hadn't bothered the president at the time. But, Vaclav Klaus responded through a spokesman on Monday by saying he had been misled. According to the spokesman Mr Paroubek - in an official statement - made no mention of any additional activities breaching conflict of interest.

Author: Jan Velinger