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Czech President Vaclav Klaus has stressed that, in his view, there is no point in continuing with the ratification of the current version of the European constitution following its rejection by France and the Netherlands. Speaking on a TV discussion programme on Sunday the president suggested, for example, that an alternative text be found, one that - in his view - did not "infringe on peoples' lives". While opposed to the constitution treaty, Mr Klaus said he would not veto any move by the Czech government and Parliament to hold a referendum to ratify the document.

Following the two "No" votes last week Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek emphasised that the ratification process should continue in remaining countries.

The Sunday paper Nedelni svet has written in its latest edition that Social Democrat MP and head of the Parliamentary Committee for the Economy Josef Hojdar is in danger of being expelled from party ranks. The paper outlines two reasons, one being a procedural mistake in Mr Hojdar's election as head of the party district branch in the north-west Bohemian town of Most; the second is opposition within his party to the Social Democrats' so-called left-wing faction, of which Mr Hojdar is a part. Nedelni svet quotes one Social Democrat as blaming Mr Hojdar for helping to bring down former prime ministers Vladimir Spidla and Stanislav Gross. The paper writes that if Mr Hojdar is expelled it could threaten the stability of the government which would lose its slim one-vote majority in the Lower House.

The US State Department has again ranked the Czech Republic as a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking. The report outlines as dominant the trafficking of women and children from countries which include Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Vietnam, for purposes of prostitution and sexual abuse. Also outlined is the problem of interior trafficking of Romani women. In 2004, the Czech Republic tightened legislation against traffickers as well as broadened a pilot programme helping victims nation-wide. In 2004, 30 cases of trafficking in the Czech Republic were investigated, with 19 going to court. 12 people involved in trafficking were convicted - up from 5 the previous year.

54 percent of respondents in a recent poll have said that the president should act in concordance with the cabinet with regards to foreign policy, and follow the political course set by the Foreign Ministry. The poll was conducted by the CVVM polling agency in April and released Friday. More than one-fourth of respondents said that the president did not have to follow the government's recommendations. Recently Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek and President Vaclav Klaus found themselves at odds in an argument over foreign policy, with Mr Paroubek insisting it was primarily the responsibility of the cabinet and not the president. President Klaus and Mr Paroubek later settled their dispute at Prague Castle, agreeing to coordinate their standpoints during visits abroad.