First, Kraus' past as a member of the pre-1989 Communist Party prevented him from moving up the political ladder, then personal and political animosity of then ČSSD chairman Miloš Zeman did. And now that he's risen to numerous posts — be it head of the chamber's budget committee or head of the party's branch in north Bohemia's Liberec region — the elevator of his political career is going down. The way Kraus' resignation was presented, however, points to a temporary separation only. He stepped down only until the solution of the Ghana cocoa beans case. Kraus said he did nothing wrong and that he was a victim of fraud. It looks as if the ČSSD punished this simple soul, who should have known with whom he was going to Ghana and to whom he is offering his mother's bank account for a transfer of $50,000 (1.2 million Kč). At the same time, though, we know that Kraus is no simple soul. When it comes to political capacity, he is among the more efficient members of his party. Permanent dismissal could only take place if there's evidence of his wrongdoing. Thus Kraus hangs on to his other positions and could return to full power unless there's media or political pressure, Mitrofanov writes.

Eleven people have frozen to death in the Czech Republic since the start of winter, five of them in Prague, mostly homeless people for whom we don't have enough shelter from the cold, Vladimír Kučera writes in Mladá fronta Dnes Jan. 13.

They warm up on trams because they have nowhere to go. You can't stand or sit next to them because they stink, and they stink because they have nowhere to wash. There are allegedly 700 beds available for more than 4,500 homeless people. True, some live on the streets of their own free will, and many don't care about hygiene. Likewise, many citizens consider the homeless to be nothing but dirt. But there are those who have been bulldozed by events; those who are too weak or living at the limits of survival. Sometimes animals in the wild are too weak to survive freezing weather, and just lie down and die. It's supposed to be a merciful death, say those who don't have to face it. Politicians' pre-election campaigns promise a social net, but mostly for the so-called middle categories. The indigent are only seldom mentioned. We can predict that this part of the population will not show up at the polls. The homeless don't have access to radio or TV and only use newspapers to make their shoes warmer. They are a nuisance on the tram, smell offensive and sometimes get kicked out as a result. It is strange to realize that a man's life is at times limited by the tolerance level of our nose, Kučera writes.