Czech opposition: president’s New Year’s address was one of his weakest

The chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party Jiří Paroubek has openly criticized President Klaus’ New Year’s address to the nation as one of his weakest speeches ever. “It would seem that ahead of the presidential elections Vaclav Klaus is suddenly afraid to defend his strong views on many issues,” Mr Paroubek said. According to Communist Party chairman Vojtěch Filip the speech lacked balance. The heads of the Christian Democratic Party and the Green Party said they missed a clear vision of the country’s future development in the president’s New Year’s Day address.