Civic Democrats executive committee calls for nomination of Klaus for re-election as president

The Civic Democrats executive committee has called on the party's deputies' and senators' groups to nominate President Vaclav Klaus for re-election next year. Mr Klaus has himself made public his desire to remain in office after his current five-year term ends. But while his own party executive was giving the president its backing, the opposition Social Democrats called on its deputies and senators not to back Mr Klaus. At a party conference on Saturday leader Jiri Paroubek described Mr Klaus as a shifty populist who is ideologically dogmatic and not modern.