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The leader of the centre-right opposition Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolanek, has said his party would only support a solution to the political crisis that leads to early elections. The party called onto cabinet to ask for a vote of confidence in parliament, if the crisis ends in anything other than early elections. Should it fail to do so, then the Civic Democrats would initiate a vote of no-confidence. Public opinion polls suggest the opposition Civic Democrats would win if parliamentary elections were held today.

The Czech Republic is finding ways to cover some of the damage caused by a wildfire in the Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia, Chile. The fire, which burned down some 14,000 hectares of land, was ignited by a Czech tourist, who accidentally overturned his camping stove.

The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda has sent a letter of apology to the Chilean Foreign Ministry. The Czech government has offered to pay for some of the restoration work and some Czech charity organisations have been asked to collect donations. The Czech tourist responsible for the fire left the country after paying a fine of 200 US dollars.

After holding a series of high-level talks with political leaders on Thursday, President Vaclav Klaus urged a speedy resolution of the Czech government crisis. On Friday President Klaus said the natural alternative would be early elections.

The crisis in the governing coalition broke out recently over the Prime Minister's private finances and the business activities of his wife. A reconciliation attempt between the two feuding parties in government broke down on Wednesday, with both sides reiterating their earlier positions. The Prime Minister Stanislav Gross said that if the Christian Democrats could not accept him as head of cabinet, their three ministers should resign from office. The Christian Democrats say the Prime Minister himself should resign.

The Czech Republic has been marking the 57th anniversary of the communist takeover in 1948. A small crowd gathered in the Prague district of Mala Strana on Friday to commemorate a university student march to Prague Castle in which the students expressed support to then president Edvard Benes on February 25, 1948. The participants of the 1948 march were persecuted under the communist regime, which lasted in the country for forty years following the coup in February 1948.