There's an idea of a ODS-ťSSD coalition, rejected by officials of both.

An ODS-Christian Democrat coalition [KDU-ťSL] would have to be based on an ODS mandate and the KDU-ťSL pulling off a partial miracle, plus the Greens not making the 5 percent [required for Parliament]. KDU-ťSL Chairman Miroslav Kalousek has fair relations with the president, but some party members consider him too right-wing.

Kalousek would need to earn more than his party's three current seats from the ODS and limit the more extreme ideas of Topolánek's party. This would lead to more compromise and tension with Klaus.

It'd be tenser if the parties invited the Greens to the coalition. Common ground in that government would force Klaus to compromise more.

Another issue is Klaus' ODS ties. He is honorary chairman. Polls show ODS voters are more pro-European Union than Klaus. As EU–friendly voters, the ODS justly bragged two years ago about pushing through the EU membership referendum. But Klaus is critical of pro-EU stands.

He has a kind of obsession when it comes to EU relations. Should the ODS win, it'd have to formulate foreign policy and EU relations would be top priority. Can this be done while cooperating with Klaus?

Bursík, you are a goner. This could have been said in jest by an observer after Václav Havel expressed his support for [Martin Bursík's] Greens, Martin Komárek writes in Mladá fronta Dnes May 18.

In reality, of course, it is praiseworthy when a former president expresses clear support for one party [even though most parties Havel has supported have collapsed, leading some to say his help is a curse].

Our electorate often maintains this attitude: A political fight is dirty and to publicly support one politician is even considered crude. A kind of theater establishes itself — a party supporter is ashamed to confess his love while in the circle of his friends.

The problem with our political system is not that it's more immoral than that of other post-communist countries. But, according to polls, mistrust of politicians by Czech citizens is highest.

An overwhelming majority thinks that politicians care only about their problems and not about the problems of the country. According to the current polls, just over 50 percent of eligible citizens will vote.

There's no point in believing that celebrity participation will significantly change this. But it may help to overcome an unnatural wall between the citizens and their representatives.

The faces of singers and sportsmen on the billboards makes one wonder how much they cost.

But if a former president and an archbishop battle politically, they begin slowly changing that theater and destroying the wall.

Václav Havel is definitely kinder now when he publicly supports the Greens than when he used to secretly support his favorites from the within Prague Castle. And this is a trap that every nominally nonaffiliated president, including the current one, falls into — because nonparty affiliation is also just theater.