Svejnar to decide on presidential bid by end of next week

Jan Svejnar has said he will decide by the end of next week whether to stand for president of the Czech Republic. Mr Svejnar, a respected US-based economist, told Czech Television he would come to a decision after holding talks with representatives of the parties in Parliament. The Social Democrats, the Greens and most European Democrat senators have already said they would back him in a contest with the incumbent Vaclav Klaus in early February. Mr Svejnar, who emigrated from communist Czechoslovakia in 1970, said he would have no objections to the support of the present-day Communist Party; their backing could be crucial if he is to succeed Mr Klaus.