News

Outgoing President Vaclav Havel has officially transferred 'presidential powers' to Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and the speaker of the Lower House Lubomir Zaoralek. Mr Havel's mandate ends on Sunday, February 2nd at midnight, leaving the Czech Republic without a president for an interim period. Two election attempts in January were inconclusive, with none of the candidates in the running finding enough support in a joint session of parliament to get elected. The presidential powers are passed on to the Prime Minister and speaker of the Lower House according to the constitution - both Prime Minister Spidla and house speaker Zaoralek stated on Sunday they would use the 'powers' conservatively to ensure the smooth running of the state. For the time being Mr Spidla will fill the presidential role on the international stage, signing international agreements, serving as commander in chief of the country's armed forces, and addressing foreign diplomats. Mr Zaorelek, on the other hand, will take up presidential duties at home, gaining the authority, for example, to name judges to the constitutional court, to name members to the council of the Central Bank, and to call a referendum on EU accession.

President Vaclav Havel has officially accepted the resignation of the head of the Czech Statistics Office Marie Bohata. Mrs Bohata resigned on Friday after the statistics body of the European Union - Eurostat - concluded that her office bore partial responsibility for a gross miscalculation of last year's economic indicators. Eurostat said the Czech Statistics Office and the Czech Customs Authority were both responsible for the release of erroneous foreign trade deficit figures for the third quarter of 2002. The accounting error - involving a sum of well over 1 billion dollars - forced a total re-evaluation of the Czech economy, including public finance and interest rates. Meanwhile, unofficial sources have told the Czech news agency CTK that Mrs Bohata's post will most likely be filled by a former deputy at the Statistics Office Jan Fischer.

Czech artist Jiri David's 'Neon Heart' that adorned Prague Castle for the last several months has been turned off as planned, to coincide with Vaclav Havel's final days as president of the Czech Republic. The large neon heart, echoing Mr Havel's signature trademark and inspired by Mr Havel's ideals, was turned off on Friday evening. The heart had dominated Prague's historic skyline provoking almost endless debate among the Czech public over its artistic value. There was more 'controversy' on the heart's 'final day', when Greenpeace representatives hung a banner near the structure protesting possible military action against Iraq.

The head of Prague's Federation for Tram Drivers Antonin Dub has announced that Prague tram drivers plan to go on strike in protest of lower salaries. On Saturday around fifty federation members met to try and decide the issue, although no information has yet been released on when the strike will take place, or how long it might last. Prague's tram drivers are upset by the fact they do not earn as much as bus drivers in the city, even though both groups are employed by a single transit authority. A comparative study commissioned by the Transit Authority and Town Hall, comparing job difficulty and skills, ranked tram drivers lower on the scale, determining a difference in pay.