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The Head of the Czech Lower House, Miloslav Vlček, would like to fine MPs who are unable to explain their absence from sessions of Parliament, reports Mladá fronta Dnes on Saturday. The reaction to Mr Vlček’s proposal has been lukewarm, writes the daily. The head of the Lower House would like to fine deputies who are absent from more than 30 percent of parliamentary sessions without good reason. He proposes the money will be docked from MPs’ expense accounts, which can amount to 40,000 crowns (1,800 USD) a year. Mr Vlček will bring the proposal to Parliament in March. So far, deputies have questioned how the system would be monitored.

Interior Minister Ivan Langer has come out in criticism of those at the head of the Czech football association and called for a change in leadership. In Saturday’s edition of the newspaper Sport, Mr Langer attacked FA bosses for preparing insufficiently for a change in the way stadiums are policed. When the Czech Gambrinus Liga resumed after the winter break last week, football grounds’ security was supposed to be taken care of by the clubs themselves, and not the Czech police. But, after violence erupted at a match in Brno, the police were forced to intervene and five arrests were made. On Saturday, Ivan Langer said that if the Czech FA had prepared better for the change, police intervention would not have been necessary. The head of the football association Pavel Mokrý responded that it was not his organization which was to blame and called Mr Langer’s comments ‘inadmissible state intervention’ into the FA and its board.

Czech banks snubbed the prospect of international financial aid on Friday, saying they were well capitalized and did not need any financial assistance. The World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank announced a 24.5 billion-dollar two-year plan to provide capital to central and east European banks. But two of the three largest Czech banks, Komerční Banka and Česká spořitelna responded immediately that they did not need such financial assistance. The Czech government and National Bank have been keen to stress that the national economy does not need outside support.

The Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra has come out in favour of the Czech Republic joining the eurozone as soon as possible. Mr Vondra said in an interview with the business daily Hospodářské noviny that getting on board what he described as ‘the steamship’ would be better than keeping the crown in the mid-term. The government is expected to set a date for adopting the euro in the autumn. The Czech Republic’s neighbour Slovakia, meanwhile, adopted the European single currency at the start of 2009.