News

Senior Public Affairs officials preparing for negotiations with coalition partners

Senior officials from the junior coalition member Public Affairs are preparing for a round of negotiations with the two other government parties, the Civic Democrats and TOP 09, to take place on Tuesday. The party’s deputy leader, Dagmar Navrátilová, told the Czech News Agency ČTK on Sunday that the party was hoping a compromise within the coalition would be reached. Should the three coalition partners fail to reach an agreement, early elections will be held. Earlies this week, Public Affairs had threatened it would quit the coalition unless certain demands were met.

PM: Senior coalition party has been preparing for early elections for weeks

Prime Minister Petr Nečas has said, in an interview that was published in the weekend edition of the daily Mladá fronta dnes, that his party, the Civic Democrats, had been preparing for possible snap elections for weeks. Mr Nečas explained that the senior government coalition party started putting together an election campaign two weeks ago, for fear that spats over austerity measures would force the government to resign. In addition, he said, the trial of Public Affairs deputy Vít Bárta, the de-facto leader of the junior coalition partner, was a factor in the party’s decision to prepare for possible early elections. The prime minister said that the Civic Democrats were concerned that in the case of an acquittal, Mr Bárta would put the government under pressure in an effort to return to the cabinet. The verdict in the highly publicized corruption trial will be delivered next Friday.

Deputy TOP 09 leader: New coalition with opposition Social Democrats possible option

Deputy leader of the government coalition’s TOP 09 party, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, has said that his party would consider forming a coalition with the Social Democrats in the case of early elections. He added that he would not welcome working together with the current opposition party, but would prefer it if junior coalition partner Public Affairs quit the coalition. The party was pushing through its agenda in a way that damaged the government, he said. However, the TOP 09 leader added that the coalition needed the junior partner’s deputies’ votes to push through reforms that will work to improve the country’s prosperity and prevent it from sliding into a financial crisis.

Social Democrats leader: Coalition with government parties not an option in case of early elections

In related news, the Social Democrats leader Bohuslav Sobotka said that his party would not consider forming a coalition with either the TOP 09 party or the Civic Democrats in the case of snap elections. He added that should the Social Democrats win the next elections, they would choose political allies that would support his party in its effort to rework the poorly conceived reforms of Prime Minister Petr Nečas’s government.

Cardinal Dominik Duka celebrates Easter Mass

Hundreds of Catholics on Sunday poured into the Czech capital’s St. Vitus Cathedral, where Cardinal Dominik Duka was celebrating the country’s main Easter mass. The cardinal highlighted the important role Easter played in the Christian faith and blessed all attendees, as well as believers around the world. Some tourists had also come to attend the two-hour mass. Additional Easter masses were held in several other churches in Prague as well as across the country.

Police looking for hit-and-run driver

Police are looking for the driver of a Ford Escort who on Friday evening hit a cyclist on a highway near Jevičko in the country’s Svitavy region. The driver committed a hit-and-run. His victim died at the site of the accident. Police are investigating the case.

Huntsmen find five more dead wild boars

Huntsmen found another five wild boars which died under mysterious circumstances on Sunday, in the Tachov region near the city of Plzeň. In recent weeks, some 20 wild boars died from unknown causes in the Czech Republic. Veterinarians have confirmed that the animals were not shot; a mass poisoning of boars by a human is looking to be a likely cause of the recent wave of wild boar deaths. Blood and other samples were drawn from the dead animals and are being analyzed at a laboratory in Prague.

Tomáš Berdych secures Czech Republic spot in Davis Cup semi-finals

Tomáš Berdych secured the Czech Republic a spot in the Davis Cup semi-finals with his victory over the Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in Prague on Sunday. Berdych won in three tiebreakers, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7), giving the Czech Republic a 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie. The result put the Czechs into the semifinals against Argentina in September. Argentina had clinched a quarterfinal win over Croatia on Sunday.

Easter snowfalls in the Krkonoše mountains

In the highest altitudes of the Krkonoše mountains, some 10 centimeters of fresh snow fell on Saturday night. According to the mountain rescue service, snow continued falling on Sunday. In addition, conditions are very windy. A second-level avalanche warning has been issued. However, the main skiing resorts are still operating, some of them until early April.

Weather

The Easter weekend is expected to be overcast and rainy with day temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius. Nighttime lows may drop below zero and snow showers are expected in the mountain regions.