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President Zeman says that Finance Minister Jan Fischer should be as transparent as possible when it comes to explaining the origin of the financial donations that cleared his debts arising from an unsuccessful presidential campaign. Mr. Zeman made the comments on Tuesday, a day before Mr. Fischer was expected to provide documentation from his sponsors as to the origin of around CZK 5 million they gave him – much of it in cash – in the week before his appointment. The minister insists his campaign account is transparent and was initially reluctant to discuss the matter. However, he asked the sponsors to show where the money came from after pressure from a number of political parties.

Prague councillors have cancelled a costly contract to reconstruct the city’s Industrial Palace and part of the Výstaviště trade fair grounds. The deal, signed by a previous city government, put the price of renovation at over CZK 3 billion, including CZK 200 million for the architectural firm that designed it. A recently installed city government says it wants to find a cheaper way to repair the palace, which was badly damaged by fire five years ago, along with other historical buildings and the grounds. Tuesday’s decision means that the future of Výstaviště, which is a listed landmark, is unclear.

The Czech lyricist and poet Václav Fischer died on Monday at the age of 87. Fischer received state honours for his participation in the resistance during the war, but was punished for that same activity by the Communists following their takeover; he was sent to an army unit that was effectively a prison camp before being forced to work as a labourer. However, he later became known as the author of the lyrics of a great number of popular songs, including hits by the likes of Waldemar Matuška, Eva Pilarová, Hana Zagorová, Jiří Korn and Olympik. He also wrote a number of illustrated poetry books for children.

Finance Minister Jan Fischer, whose election campaign debts were recently covered by sponsors, has asked them to clarify the source of the money donated. Mr. Fischer said that if this was not done he would return the finances. The finance minister, who incurred a 3.5 million crown debt in the course of his presidential election campaign earlier this year, has come under fire for producing the necessary funds from sponsors, among them large donations in cash, soon after it became known he would get a lucrative position in the new caretaker government.