By Jana Donovan

For The Post

In a country mired in government deadlock, Czech Television (ČT) journalist Jana Bobošíková has what she calls a new recipe for political success: a celebrity-powered political party with candidates that include a pop singer, the ex-wife of a PGA Tour golfer and the estranged spouse of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek.

The party — Politika 21 — aims to win 12 seats in this fall's Senate election, a goal Bobošíková says is based solely on the principle of breathing new life into this country's political landscape.

"The current political situation is simply new wind from old rear ends," Bobošíková, 42, said at a press conference Aug. 25.

Bobošíková, who was once widely reviled for opposing protesters in a 2001 ČT strike that was portrayed as a battle over political control of the media, is now seeking to expand her political career after winning a surprise European Parliament seat last year.

Some applaud the effort, but others call it opportunism — a bid to profit from the current vacuum at the top of Czech politics.

Just what substance Politika 21 brings to the table remains unclear.

The party says its platform is about market liberalization, economic competitiveness and reforming the electoral and political systems, such as by reducing the size of Parliament and abolishing the Senate — the very body it wants to win seats in.

But political analyst Bohumil Doležal said, "There have been so many similar parties, based on opportunism, yet none has lasted very long."

Few have attracted as much attention, however.

Long shots

That has no small part to do with the party's marquee candidate, Pavla Topolánková, the wife of Civic Democratic Party (ODS) leader Topolánek, who has unsuccessfully sought to form a government for weeks.

Topolánková, seen by many as the brains behind her husband's career, has been likened to former U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton, not least because of her husband's numerous alleged infidelities.

When reporters circled her Aug. 25, demanding to know whether she was running for a rival political party out of revenge, Topolánková ran into the bathroom and locked herself inside for several minutes.

"My new political career has nothing to do with some family crisis, nor is it revenge on my husband," she said later, adding that her decision is simply the result of a decade of political work.

Topolánek, meanwhile, told Radio Frekvence 1 that his wife's decision was her "sweet revenge," as well as "a personal mistake."

Despite her attention-grabbing presence, analysts say Topolánková is a long shot to win in her native district of Ostrava, north Moravia, where her husband's ODS candidate, Milan Balabán, is the frontrunner.

Topolánková is overshadowing Bobošíková and Politika 21's other celebrity candidates: pop singer Martin Maxa and Mirka Čejková, also a popular television journalist and the ex-wife of Alex Čejka, the only Czech-born golfer on the PGA Tour.

The bleached-blond Maxa, decked out in his traditional open-necked white shirt, does not convey an image of political substance. Asked recently why he was entering the fray, the 45-year-old says his motivation was piqued after run-ins with the criminal justice system. The pop star has served a two-year jail sentence for attacking a man.

"As a father of three, I don't want to end up as an old man sitting in a pub and complaining," he said. "I don't want to have to tell my kids, 'Forget about all the principles I have taught you because it is not working in our society.' I prefer to do something about it."

For her part, Čejková, who lost her job as a Prima TV moderator because she's running for Senate, acknowledged that she cannot offer much political expertise. But, she said, her strong suit is life experience. She survived a much-publicized divorce while raising a disabled daughter.

More than just celebrities

Bobošíková said Politika 21 has more going for it than just celebrity candidates.

For instance, there's the celebrated Dr. Ladislav Pika, the world's first physician to deliver a baby using a unique technique of assisted reproduction called GIFT. But, given the media circus around Topolánková and the others, Bobošíková is finding it hard to convey the finer details of her party's platform.

"Disgust with politics is growing among people," she said. "The people despise the politicians and the political parties."

Fair enough. But where does that put her and Politika 21?

Analyst Doležal was blunt: "They have zero chance."