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 use of cannabis in the treatment of serious illnesses is the subject of a new Czech feature-length documentary titled “Rok Konopí” (“Year of Mari©huana”), which is premiered at Prague's Bio Oko cinema on Thursday. Legislation currently before parliament should lead to a green light for the medical use of the drug here although what form it will take is as yet unclear.

Czech Social Democrats have ducked a difficult decision over whether to back an independent candidate, a US-based economist who found, and lost, one presidential campaign for them, or opt for a young, high-riding party senator, as their candidate in the first direct elections to become head of state. Economist  Jan Švejnar might take the decision off their hands by deciding to stick with his new job at Columbia University. 

A change many thought would not happen is now firmly on course, direct elections of the Czech head of state. The upper house of parliament, the Senate, gave the change sufficient backing late Wednesday in spite of worries expressed that it is a jump in the dark which upsets the country's constitutional balance and creates grounds for even more stand-offs between president, prime minister and parliament.