Czech economist Vladimír Dlouhý, the nation’s very first minister of industry and trade under then Prime Minister Václav Klaus (now serving his final term as head of state), will run for the presidency as an independent. But the advisor to Goldman Sachs in Central Europe must know there is no chance of a sudden wave of public support sending him to Prague Castle. So why has Dlouhý, a former communist, tossed his hat in the proverbial ring? 

The Czech Green Party (SZ) see potential allies among parliamentary parties to stage a political comeback and reenter the lower house of parliament. Party chairman Ondřej Liška is troubled by dirty money in Czech politics, the procurement system and ministries that often seem to work solely in their own interests, and says he believes the voters are again ready to trust the Greens to do the right things.

A new public opinion poll shows presidential hopeful Miloš Zeman, the former Social Democrat (ČSSD) prime minister, gaining ground on Czech-American economist Jan Švejnar — in the battle for second place. However, the latest Factum Invenio poll shows that Jan Fischer (unaffiliated), who served as prime minister in a caretaker government, would still win by a comfortable margin with 24.4 percent of the vote compared to 17.8 for Švejnar and 12 percent for Zeman.

The leader of the junior TOP 09 party in the rump Czech coalition government has said the government may fall within weeks although it is expected to survive Friday’s no-confidence vote, called by Prime Minister Petr Nečas, chairman of the senior Civic Democrats (ODS). Karel Schwarzenberg said the real test is whether MPs will keep vote for necessary but unpopular measures.