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Earlier this week, the chairman of the opposition Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolanek, sent letters to the Prague embassies of EU member states saying the coalition government's poor showing in the weekend's European parliamentary election meant it had lost its legitimacy to negotiate on issues such as the EU constitution on behalf of the Czechs. Mr Topolanek said it therefore made no sense for other EU member states to negotiate with the Social Democrat-led government. The ruling coalition sharply criticised the Civic Democrats' letter and diplomats said privately that it had been a faux pas.

President Vaclav Klaus has appointed Roman law expert Michaela Zidlicka as a new constitutional judge, raising the number of the members of the body to 12 and thus enabling the court to debate complex constitutional complaints in a plenum. In all, the Constitutional Court should have 15 members. Constitutional judges are proposed by the president, but their nomination must be approved by the Senate. President Klaus has put forward 15 candidates, one of them twice, since taking office last year. The Senate has rejected five candidates and accepted eight. Earlier this year, the Christian Democrat Senator Zdenek Barta said he would file a constitutional complaint of treason against President Klaus for his delays in naming judges. According to the complaint, Mr Klaus has crippled one branch of power by not naming judges. President Klaus has rejected the allegation.

The Chamber of Deputies has failed to discuss the possibility of an eventual confidence vote reconfirming the mandate of the Czech Republic's coalition government, which suffered a major defeat in last weekend's European Parliament elections. The government saw just four elected to a possible twenty-four MP posts. The Social-Democrat-led government is now at a crossroads over how to react to its failure at the most recent polls, with some calling for a cabinet shake up. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has himself confirmed he will call for his party's executive committee to reconfirm his and his deputies' mandates on July 11th.

That is not to say the government might not face a vote of "no confidence" in the near future, called by the opposition Civic Democrats. However, at the moment the opposition in the lower house lacks enough votes to bring down the government. The coalition, led by the senior Social Democrats, enjoys a slim majority of 101 in the 200 member chamber.

President Vaclav Klaus has accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Karel Cermak from his post. Mr Cermak, nominated by the senior ruling Social Democrats, confirmed his resignation in protest of the government's recent decision to strip judges of additional 13th and 14th salaries. Mr Cermak has said he considered the move as an attack on the judiciary. Now Mr Cermak is expected to be replaced by another Social Democrat, Zdenek Koudelka.