Support for Klaus hits all-time low following controversial amnesty

Support for President Klaus, who steps down on March 7, has hit an all-time low. While 53 percent of respondents in a poll conducted by the CVVM agency in December said they trusted the head of state, the figure fell to only 26 percent in a survey conducted in January. The decline in approval for Mr. Klaus followed a controversial amnesty he declared on January 1 under which cases running for over eight years and carrying a top sentence of 10 years were dismissed; several involved alleged massive corruption dating back to the privatisation era of the 1990s.