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Politicians have begun responding to Prime Minister Jan Fischer’s call to present their views on prolonging the interim government’s mandate. Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek said his party’s support would be contingent upon the government linking their budget proposal for a reduced deficit to a vote of confidence. Mr Fischer has rejected that condition and instead wants the package read as emergency legislation next week. Meanwhile, support for the interim government sharply divided the Christian Democratic Party on Thursday. Chairman Cyril Svoboda said the party “had no reason” to endorse the government’s mandate on the grounds that it has enough support without the Christian Democrats. He later withdrew the comment.

The national carrier Czech Airlines has begun a long anticipated round of layoffs. The company says that the layoffs will continue gradually until March of next year and currently involve several dozen individuals primarily in technical and administrative divisions. The move is key part of the management’s large-scale plan to restructure the company amid fears it is on the verge of bankruptcy; Czech Airline unions however have been adamant in their opposition to that plan and have threatened to go on unlimited strike.

The Czech crown reached it strongest point on Thursday since November of last year, briefly trading at less than 25 CZK/EUR and 17 CZK/USD. Trading ended slightly above that mark. According to analysts the current strengthening of the Czech crown is due primarily to an optimistic mood among investors on the global markets and will likely continue for a while. At the same time, a number of economists point out that the strong crown has no basis in the domestic economic situation and they expect the exchange rates to diverge before the end of the year.

President Václav Klaus on Wednesday voiced agreement with the view of Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek that general elections in the country should only be held provided they are incontestable before the Constitutional Court. Speaking after a meeting with Mr Paroubek at Prague Castle, Mr Klaus blamed the current political chaos on the Constitutional Court’s decision to postpone the early general elections planned for October. The president also said that if early general elections are not held in the near future, the caretaker government of Jan Fischer should be given a strong mandate. On Tuesday, the Social Democrats unexpectedly pulled out of a political agreement under which the lower house of the Czech Parliament was to have been dissolved, paving the way for early elections.