Straka not to stand for Christian Democrats due to citizenship

Former football player and manager Frantisek Straka will not stand for the Christian Democrats in June's general elections. Mr Straka holds German citizenship and needed to acquire Czech citizenship by the deadline for submitting his candidature on Tuesday. The interior minister, Frantisek Bublan, says he personally approved Czech citizenship for Mr Straka, though Christian Democrat leader Miroslav Kalousek says the fact it was not granted in time amounted to interfering with the elections.