Politicians ready to change constitution quickly after court throws date of elections into doubt

Czech politicians have agreed to amend the constitution quickly after the Constitutional Court threw the date of early elections into doubt. On Tuesday the court said it needed more time to deliberate on the constitutionality of an amendment passed by the Chamber of Deputies cutting short its last term. Consequently, judges suspended a decision by Czech President Václav Klaus to hold elections on October 9 and 10. But after chairing a meeting of party leaders and senior constitutional figures at Prague Castle on Wednesday, Mr Klaus said they had not accepted the idea that early elections had been lost. He said an expert group would draft a constitutional amendment within hours or days.

This unprecedented situation arose after the Constitutional Court received a complaint by independent MP Miloš Melčák; he said the amendment bringing the previous parliament to an end violated his right to serve out a full four-year term.