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A new poll conducted by the CVVM agency suggests that a majority of Czechs remain distrustful or pessimistic about the country’s political parties roughly a week after voters went to the polls.

Roughly two-thirds told pollsters that parties were only interested in voters at election time, that they were corrupt, that they divided society and that their main goals were maintaining their own advantages and interests.

Some 72 percent of respondents said that although political parties criticized one another, they were all the same.

A little over 50 percent said that parties were needed to defend interests of different social groups, and for democracy to function.

Ďuričko freed after serving two-thirds of sentence The regional court in Karviné has freed Bohumir Ďuričko, a former businessman serving 12.5 years in prison for the murder of Václav Kočka, jr in 2008, based on the recommendation of the state prosecutor. Mr Ďuřicko and his lawyer filed the request having served two-thirds of his sentence.

The prosecutor backed the proposal providing Mr Ďuričko would abstain from alcohol and other factors. Ďuričko will remain on probation for a period of seven years.

In 2008, the businessman shot and killed Václav Kočka, jr at a Prague bar following a personal argument, hours after the venue had hosted a book-signing by then-Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek. The deceased’s father was in court on Monday; he expressed regret, he said, that the "justice system had decided as it had".

Material damage in forest and woodlands is being tabulated in the Krkonoše Mountains, where strong winds on Sunday damaged thousands of cubic metres of wood in the form of snapped branches and falling trees. Damage was made worse because soil was already saturated from extensive rainfall.

Locals as well as tourists have been warned not to enter forest areas until areas are stabilised. On Sunday, wind at the Czech Republic’s highest peak, Snežka, hit a speed of 180 kilometres per hour. On Monday, some sites, such as Prague Zoo, remained closed.

The Social Democrats have said they will not field their own candidate in the presidential election to be held in January 2018. Five years ago, during the first direct presidential elections in the Czech Republic, the party backed candidate Jiří Dienstbier, who finished fourth in the first round – behind Jan Fischer, Karel Schwarzenberg and the eventual winner, Miloš Zeman.

Earlier this year, the Social Democrats had hinted they might put forward their own nominee. Other parties that will not field candidates in the upcoming election include ANO, the Christian Democrats and TOP 09.

The party for Freedom and Direct Democracy’s leader Tomio Okamura has not ruled out his own bid, which he will decide after November 6.