The search for a presidential candidate continues

The search continues for a presidential candidate strong enough to challenge the incumbent president Vaclav Klaus in next year's presidential elections. The ruling Civic Democrats will support Mr. Klaus' re-election, but the two smaller coalition parties -the Christian Democrats and the Greens - are holding talks with the opposition Social Democrats on a joint candidate. They are said to be discussing three possible candidates - the former foreign minister Jiri Dienstbier, economist Jan Svejnar and an unaffiliated candidate whose name has not been revealed.

Political observers say that the chances of finding a candidate who would be strong enough to challenge Vaclav Klaus are meager - not due to a lack of quality candidates but because the three parties will find it hard to agree on a single candidate and give him or her their full backing.