Prague - You might question its inclusion in our weekly news digest, but there was hardly anything more substantive occuring last week than the coming of the New Year itself. And despite the usual midnight over-use of pyrotechnics, which turned Prague's central Wenceslas Square into something of a war zone, the event passed rather peacefully.
This extends to the New Year's Day road traffic accidents as well, which claimed no lives, an event worth celebrating in a country notorious for its misbehaving drivers. The day before, however, was a different story, with no less than five fatalities, the highest number in the past eight years.
For most of the people though, it is not the reckless drivers they will fear in the year 2008, but an over-the-board price hike, which will make shopping, travelling and well, living in general, much more expensive experience. Gone are the days of a (largely) free health-care in the Czech Republic, for example. Next time you go see a doctor, don't forget to bring your wallet.
The rising prices notwithstanding, we are probably living in the best period of the modern Czech state, according to the President Václav Klaus who had delivered his fifth New Year's Day address last week. It may have been his last, since his five-year term is to expire next month, although he certainly hopes the lawmakers will extend his stay in office.
His predecessor Václav Havel hopes otherwise, as he made clear in his lengthy radio interview broadcast last week. Klaus' challenger Jan Švejnar would be a better head of state, Havel believes. And he would also like to see the two square off in a TV debate before the election, an unlikely event, since Mr Klaus is opposed to the idea as he confirmed once again last week.
There has been some speculation last week that the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which has a largest share of seats in the parliament, but still not enough to make their chairman emeritus president for another five-year term, is allegedly discussing what can only be described as a typical political horse-trading deal, with their coalition partner Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL). It would reportedly see the KDU-ČSL's disgraced leader Jiří Čunek return to the government in exchange for the party's support of Mr. Klaus in the upcoming presidential election.
Mr. Čunek denied any such deal is under discussion in an interview for Aktuálně.cz. But he still feels he has every right to demand he be allowed back to the cabinet after all charges of corruption have had been dropped against him late last year. But the Green Party, the smallest member of the three-way coalition, is still dead-set against it, as its parliament faction leader Kateřina Jacques told Aktuálně.cz. The threat of the fragile government breaking up in the following months thus remains very real.
Doom scenarios aside, the government got a nice gift last week, when it transpired that last year's budget deficit was by 25 billion Czech crowns smaller than originally expected. Still a long way from breaking even with more than 66 billion CZK deficit, the cabinet of Prime Minister Topolánek nevertheless boosted its credentials as a reform-minded team with badly needed fiscal responsibility at the top of its agenda.
It then comes as no surprise to those who know how the Czech electorate hates public spending cuts, that the latest public opinion poll gave ODS its worst rating since it had won the last elections in June 2006. According to the Median company survey, it now trails the main opposition Social Democrats by nine per cent with slightly more than 28 per cent of people ready to vote for them.
ODS' coalition partners' support has also dwindled with less than 7 per cent of those asked supporting the KDU-ČSL and one per cent less ready to give their vote to the Greens. On the contrary, the opposition Communist Party scored very well with the people 17 percent approval rate is its best poll result since the elections.
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Leaving the politicis aside, which is something most Czechs wish for anyway, there was at least one reason for a nation-wide celebration last week. On Sunday, Lukáš Bauer won this year's Tour de Ski, an annual cross-country skiing event, which was held for the first time in 2007 with hopes of becoming the Tour de France of the Nordic winter sport.
Beating his rivals by nearly three minutes in the end, Bauer has now firmly established himself as the new king of winter sports in the Czech Republic, climbing on the throne left vacant by the Olympic winner Kateřina Neumannová's retirement last year.
The Queen is (not) dead (- thank God, only retired), long live the King!
