Friday News Briefing

The first direct presidential election will take place this month as originally scheduled, the Constitutional Court decided today, rejecting Senator Tomio Okamura's proposal for the election's adjournment. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for Jan. 11-12 and a possible second round for Jan. 25-26. The court will continue to examine the legislation linked to the new electoral procedure on the basis of a complaint lodged by Okamura, a candidate for president whom authorities previously eliminated from the race.   

The LIDEM party wants to negotiate with Prime Minister Petr Nečas' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and TOP 09 on its future in the coalition government, LIDEM leader Karolína Peake said after a meeting of the party's leadership and MPs today. LIDEM, the smallest coalition government member, has resolved to withdraw its ministers from the government as of Jan. 10. Peake said the coalition meeting, which may determine the future viability of the government, will be held in the first half of next week.   

President Václav Klaus has nominated former supreme state attorney Renata Vesecká and opposition Social Democrat (ČSSD) lawmaker Stanislav Křeček for the post of deputy ombudsman. Křeček, 84, is known for his fight to uphold regulated housing rents. Vesecká, 52, is a former supreme state attorney dismissed amid controversy in 2010. In opposition, TOP 09/STAN deputy chairman Petr Gazdík said Klaus' nomination "goes well" with the recent blanket amnesty, which saw the president pardon individuals linked to "Godfather-like circles."  

The Czech Republic's budget revenues in 2012 were 42.6 billion Kč lower than the optimistic budget scenario expected, while austerity measures in expenditures amounted to 47 billion Kč, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek told journalists Jan. 3. The government had been aware of the fall in revenues, leading it to increase savings. The 2012 state budget ended with a deficit of 101 billion Kč, while the approved budget plan had projected a gap of 105 billion Kč. "The macroeconomic forecast deteriorated steeply in autumn 2011," Kalousek said. "It became clear that tax revenues will be lower than stipulated in the budget documentation. We had forewarned about this in the process of the budget approval and promised that we would make relevant corrections on the basis of the January prediction, which we did in March. Thanks to these savings, we fulfilled the deficit plan with a sufficient reserve."  

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