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The Social Democrats remain in the lead in a new election survey by the Median agency released on Friday. The party would receive 32 percent of the vote, followed by the Communists with 15.5 percent. The conservative former coalition party TOP 09 would came in third with 15 percent while the Civic Democrats would receive 13.5 percent of the vote. The president’s SPOZ group would win around 5 percent. The survey suggests that the Christian Democrats, the Greens and other parties would not pass the 5-percent threshold to enter the lower house. Over 63 percent of those polled said they would take part in the election.

An influential Civic Democrat MP, Boris Šťastný, on Friday announced he was leaving his party. In a statement on his website, Mr Šťastný said the Civic Democrats had abandoned their roots and betrayed their voters. The deputy said he was not leaving politics but would like to establish a new group which would facilitate the return of former president, and founder of the Civic Democrat party Václav Klaus to politics. There has been speculation that Mr Klaus, whose second term as president ended earlier this year, will attempt a political comeback either by rejoining the Civic Democrat party, another existing group or forming a new party.

The police are ready for anti-Romany rallies expected in five Czech cities on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the police said. Anti-Romany gatherings, organized by far-right extremists, are to take place in Ostrava, Plzeň, České Budějovice, Jičín and Duchcov. The police have information about the expected turnout at the rallies, the spokeswoman said, adding that riot units of the police have prepared accordingly. In two places – in Ostrava and Plzeň, Romany and human rights groups are planning to stage their own protests against racism. The Czech Republic has seen a rise in ethnic tensions in recent months; experts say the phenomenon is fuelled by falling living standards of low-income strata of the society.

Around 20 dead birds of prey have been found near Litoměřice in northern Bohemia in recent days, the Czech Ornithological Society said. The birds were apparently poisoned, and the case in under police investigation. Ornithologists, who believe they found a poison bait in the area, says this is the most serious case of bird poisoning in recent years.