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Meanwhile, after heavy rainfalls earlier in the week, experts at the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute warn that flooding is expected to affect the central Bohemian region in the coming days. High-alert warnings have been issued for the River Jizera, which is expected to see the worst flooding in over five to ten years, and the River Elbe is also affected. The flood-watch warnings will be in effect until at least Thursday's morning hours, until which time experts expect water levels to continue rising. Continued rains are also expected in parts of Moravia and Silesia, and these should taper-off by mid-week.

Outgoing Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek has confirmed that the make-up of his cabinet could change if the latest, seventh attempt at electing a new lower house speaker fails. The outgoing cabinet contains ministers of the Freedom Union, which did not make it into parliament in the June elections. With important decision-making ahead, such as next year's state budget, these ministers could be replaced. Mr Paroubek has also hinted that his new cabinet could be the country's next new government.

Two months after the parliamentary elections, the country has neither a new government nor a new lower house chairman. The 200 seats in the lower house of Parliament are evenly split between the left and the centre and right parties.

If elections were held today, the Civic Democrats would win with 41 percent of the vote, suggests a new opinion poll. In the parliamentary elections in June, the party won 35.5 percent of support. The other parties would get around the same number of votes as two months ago, according to the poll conducted by Factum Invenio. The agency attributes the Civic Democrats' dramatic rise in popularity to its efforts in the post-election talks.

Controversial Czech businesswoman Libuse Bartova intends to run for the post of senator. Ms Barkova was sentenced to five years in prison for insurance fraud last year after making false property damage claims following the floods in 2002. Ms Barkova has appealed the verdict. She also made headlines in 2003 when her conversations with then Interior Minister Stanislav Gross and a Defence Minister were caught up in a police wiretap, and it was revealed that Ms Barkova owned a building housing a brothel. In an interview for the commercial radio station Frekvence 1 on Monday, Ms Barkova said she would stand in the Senate elections as an independent candidate.