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On Tuesday, 114 MPs in the 200 member lower house of Parliament will take an oath of loyalty for the first time, as the Chamber meets in its first session following last month’s elections. The new lower house will be far different from that which preceded it: for one, more women MPs than ever were elected and are also expected to hold key posts as lower house speaker and deputy chairpersons. Secondly, the new lower house will be slimmed of numerous committees as part of necessary cost-cutting measures, a move decided on Monday by the three parties

The weekend conference of the Czech Republic’s largest centre-right party, the Civic Democrats, brought plenty of new faces to the forefront. Many in the press and the party itself refer to the changes as a revolution, but will it help them regain their lost ground? What can we expect from the “new” Civic Democratic Party? Radio Prague asked political analyst Jiří Pehe.

The acting leader of the centre-right Civic Democrats and man tipped to be the next prime minister, Petr Nečas, has been confirmed at the top of the party. What is more, votes for the other top party posts confounded expectations by delivering Mr. Nečas’ dream team.

The man most likely to become the next Czech prime minister, Petr Nečas of the Civic Democrats, has paid a visit to Prague Castle to inform President Václav Klaus about how three-party coalition talks are progressing. Mr Nečas says those talks should move up a gear after a key congress of his party this weekend, and a new cabinet should be drawing up next year’s budget within a month’s time.

Foreign film producers have good reason to return to Prague. Once a thriving filming location, the Czech Republic lost out to competition from Hungary, Romania and other countries of central and eastern Europe which offered lower prices and lucrative tax rebates. In an effort to lure them back, the Czech government came up with its own incentives package which has now been approved the European Commission.

The fight against corruption is seen as one of the top priorities of the emerging centre-right coalition government which met this week to approve a series of measures including the establishment of special courts, tightening reliability screening tests for policemen and civil servants and establishing the office of agent provocateur –undercover agents offering bribes. The plan has already come under fire from the Czech branch of Transparency International which describes it as lame and inefficient. Christian Falvey spoke to TIC branch head David

Illegal recreational drugs have long been a part of the Czech music and dance scene, not least at many of country’s summer festivals. But until now, at least on occasion, NGOs focusing on drugs awareness were able to offer testing of drugs such as ecstasy on site. The aim was to check purity levels to be able to warn users of increased hazards and to make at least some of them think twice. Such initiatives now appear to be at an end: on Wednesday the police’s National Anti-Drug headquarters suggested such testing was not only inappropriate but

An investigation has been launched by accident experts into how a runaway tram took off onto a busy Prague road leaving its desperate driver trailing behind. The almost unique case appears to be down to human error, and has sparked questions about driver training.

The weather may not be ideal so far this summer for laying about in the sand, but one outdoor amusement centre isn’t letting that spoil their big occasion. Žluté lázně, or the “Yellow Spa”, turned 100 years old on Wednesday, and that is cause for a week of celebrations at Prague’s “beachfront” on the Vltava, come rain or come shine.

Czech health care is once again in the spotlight, after the country’s Medical Chamber called on hospital physicians to quit their jobs by the end of the year if they don’t get a substantial pay raise. The appeal is unlikely to leave patients in Czech hospitals without treatment, but will put more pressure on the potential government coalition which plans to introduce a major overhaul of the system.