One day, Dvořák, then-director of the National Theater, and new Culture Minister Martin Štěpánek were looking forward to working together. On Sept. 12, to Dvořák's surprise, Štěpánek sacked him over allegations of financial mismanagement and shady ethics.

"I see the immediate dismissal of the director of such a prominent institution to be without precedent," Dvořák said. "I cannot imagine that the director of the Paris Opera could be dismissed in a similar way. I cannot imagine what I would have had to commit to find this immediate dismissal justified. I would have had to commit a crime for this to be justified."

And so it has gone for dozens of others in recent weeks, as the party with the thinnest of mandates — it prevailed in June's general election by one percentage point — continues to carry out purges throughout the government, even as a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies slated for early next month nears, which will decide the fate of the nascent ODS Cabinet.

Many on the way out are, not surprisingly, members of the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). But the ODS housecleaning has also swept up ostensibly nonpolitical appointees like Dvořák. Among those joining him are Veronika Vokounová, director of the Justice Ministry's Public-Private Partnership; Michal Sojka, head of the SÚKL drug administration; and Jan Höck, director of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund.

In total, 35 people have lost government jobs since President Václav Klaus appointed the ODS Cabinet Sept. 4.

Analysts say dramatically overhauling the government before next month's vote of confidence — widely predicted to go against the ODS — could plunge the country's political system into chaos.

"The ODS doesn't really have a strong enough mandate to implement such broad changes," said analyst Zdeněk Zbořil. "The ODS decided to go for all these wide changes regardless of what the next government will be all about, regardless of what it's going to look like. Should the ODS Cabinet fail to win the chamber's confidence, then the changes would destabilize the ministries."

Three of six deputies in the Finance Ministry are already out, including TomᚠProuza, the man responsible for setting the country's euro-adoption timeline.

New Interior Minister Ivan Langer, promising a broad overhaul of the "ministry of fear," has sacked six of his seven deputies and created two new departments. He is also pushing to abolish the Information Technology Ministry and roll its duties into the Interior Ministry.

New Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil has eliminated the ministry's entire Government and Parliamentary Agenda Division, saying he was not sure what its purpose was.

A spokesman for the ODS defended the dismissals Sept. 18, and said the changes would not destabilize the government.

"On the contrary," said Martin Schmarz, "the current changes at ministries are making the administration more stable and apolitical."

Schmarz also added that the ODS is not replacing employees with politicians, but with nonaffiliated "experts."

But that's not entirely true. Karel Mach, a longtime member of the Christian Democratic Union, is mentioned as a new appointee for the Finance Ministry — which hints at coalition-building, observers say — and the Interior Ministry's Langer has already tapped Vladimír Zeman and Zdeněk Zajíček, longtime ODS members, as replacement deputies.

Even new ministers not affiliated with the ODS (though appointed by the party) are carrying out purges: Education Minister Miroslava Kopicová has sacked all four of her deputies, and Defense Minister Jiří Šediv˘ fired two of his three.

The ODS said most of the dismissals have focused on deputies whom ČSSD leaders appointed only weeks before June's general election, when the party was trailing in the polls and looked likely to be ousted from power.

"Our aim is to make up for the intentional changes carried out by the former government, when posts at ministries were occupied according to political party membership," Schmarz said.

That still leaves those like the National Theater's Dvořák wondering. In a press conference held the day after his sacking, Dvořák, who ran the theater for four years, denied he was political.

He said his dismissal threatened scores of projects already under way at the theater.

"Over the four years I was in office, the National Theater always scored a better financial result than the plan determined by the ministry," he said.