The senseless bureaucratic state intervention that forced us to buy all drugs exclusively at pharmacies ended June 15. This leap took us closer to developed democracies governed by liberal thinking. Today, we can go to a newspaper stand or stop at a petrol station to buy aspirin or vitamin C, just like in good old England or the United States.

I can imagine how delighted citizens are going to be, for example, in my favorite city of Prachatice, where they have seven pharmacies but none with night opening hours. Thus, before the change, while suffering from a headache, one could choose going to ťeské Budďjovice, bothering the night emergency staff at the local hospital or simply suffering and getting the medication in the morning. Today, all you have to do is stop at the nearest petrol station.

The only thing we can be sorry about is the reaction of the pharmacists' guild director, Lubomír Chudoba, who, while posing as the most liberal of all liberals, remains stubborn in calling for the decree's abolition — and for a return to annoying bureaucracy. Not because he fears the competition, of course, but because the decree "is against Constitutional order."

Fortunately, there are many liberals in the new chamber, even among the Social Democrats. In a word, this is the right time to change the aging laws that limit civic freedoms.

It goes without saying that we need not change the Constitution — it says nothing at all about pharmacies, Franďk writes.

It's not a dignified position for Jiří Paroubek, the leader of a still ruling party, Radek Bartoníček writes in Mladá fronta Dnes June 16. While the chairmen of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats (KDU-ťSL) and the Green Party were discussing plans for a government that may be ruling until 2010, Paroubek had nothing to do but sit and wait for their call.

But that's Paroubek's problem. He is almost out of the game and that was caused by his speech after the elections and also by his automatic rejection of this coalition.

After becoming prime minister last spring he decided to choose to be on his own so he remains without allies.

The chairmen of KDU-ťSL and ODS, Miroslav Kalousek and Mirek Topolánek, don't have a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, but neither are they completely defenseless. I dare to claim that their strongest weapon is their mutual relationship. Those men understand each other and they want to rule together.

Paroubek is in a very difficult situation now.

Neither the Christian Democrats nor the Greens are desirous or willing to rule with Paroubek. Possible Communist votes won't help him. He can keep saying that he won't tolerate a new government coalition – and he has the right to do that – but this will only lose him more points with the public.

He has to decide between two "evils." He will either negotiate conditions for the new government and be relegated to the opposition or he will take his chances on new elections.

The first option means that he would be able to remain in high places; the other option is a very risky road to the unknown. Possibly, the road to political retirement.