Controversy over Prague mayor's mountaineering expedition

Prague mayor Pavel Bem's plans to take two months of unpaid leave in order to climb Mount Everest have met with criticism from his Civic Democratic Party. Several high ranking party members, including deputy chairman Petr Necas, have publicly criticized Mr. Bem's plans, saying that as mayor of Prague he has a lot of responsibility and cannot walk away from the job for that length of time. Others have spoken out in the mayor's defence saying that his mountaineering expedition will attract a lot of publicity for Prague and arguing that this is part of the mayor's job.