Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Havel's passing, however, appears temporarily to have healed the old divides and left
a moral vacuum at the heart of Czech society that will be hard to fill. Czech writer
Milan Kundera said it best: 'Havel's most important work was his own life.'
How 'not' to Govern a Country
Political scientists around the world will long have the Czech Republic to thank when
studying dysfunctional political systems. Every year, it seems, brings a predictable
number of government crises and threats of no-confidence votes that could bring
down the whole edifice at any moment. A shaky right-leaning coalition, led by Prime
Minister Petr Nečas of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), remains under constant
threat from the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD), and has been wracked by scan-
dal.
But unstable governments are par-for-the-course here. In 2009 the government fam-
ously fell in a no-confidence vote, but new elections weren't held for more than a
year. That escapade gave rise to the running joke at the time: 'What's the world's
biggest nongovernmental organisation?' Answer: the Czech Republic.
Current President Václav Klaus, whose term runs to 2013, presides over this caco-
phony like a mother hen. The presidency is relatively weak on paper, but the contro-
versial Klaus (a self-proclaimed Thatcherite and deeply hostile to the European
Union) has used the divisions to consolidate his power. This may change in 2013,
when the president for the first time will be chosen by direct popular (instead of par-
liamentary) vote.
Economic Crisis Averted?
After wallowing for years in the wake of the global recession, Prague and the Czech
Republic appear to be slowly clawing their way back to prosperity. After suffering a
decline in growth as recently as 2011, the Czech economy was poised to grow by
0.2% in 2012 and 1.6% in 2013. Much will depend on recovery in Germany, the
Czechs' largest export market.
Visitors are not likely to notice any sign of a downturn in Prague, which remains
partially buffered from the global economy due to tourist income. Indeed, a near
20-year boom in tourism has helped the Czech capital to become the seventh-richest
region in the European Union. The effects are more pronounced in the countryside ‒
particularly western Bohemia and northern Moravia ‒ where much of the industry is
located.
