Social Democrats' Central Executive Committee still in the dark over presidential candidates

Several members of the Social Democratic Party's Central Executive Committee, attempting to obtain the names of potential presidential candidates being discussed by the three-party governing coalition, were further left in the dark Saturday when Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla told journalists that talks between the parties, as well as potential candidates, were still underway. No definite names have been decided as yet. The governing coalition, which includes the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Freedom Union, is trying to agree on a joint candidate in upcoming Czech presidential elections. Two attempts in January ended in stalemate, failing to find a successor to Vaclav Havel, who steps down on February 2nd. In the previous attempts the Social Democrats fielded their two candidates, neither of whom made it past the first round.