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With gloomy economic outlooks and continuing uncertainty on the job market Czechs are bracing for another tough year. In its determination to bring the deficit in public finances to below 3 percent of GDP in 2013 the centre-right Czech government recently pushed through a number of crucial reforms that will impact each and every citizen.

In many ways, Václav Klaus’s last ever New Year’s Day address as Czech president followed the usual script. But it also contained one big surprise – the announcement of an amnesty that will see a quarter of those serving time in Czech jails freed early.

Jana Bobošíková is nothing if not a fighter. As an experienced journalist she grilled seasoned politicians yet in the 2001 Czech TV crisis she sided with management in a battle for control of the airwaves, firing former colleagues who rebelled against attempts to undermine the station’s editorial independence. Although a former MEP, she is a big admirer of President Vaclav Klaus, determined to stand up against Brussels in defense of what she believes to be Czech national interests.

Interest in precious metals and stones in the Czech Republic, is reaching new highs, either for personal use, in the form of jewellery, but in the form of bullion as an investment. Czechs this year alone, for example, spent more than three billion crowns on gold bars, even though the price of the precious metal has almost doubled over the last two years.

Christmas is the season to be merry, and in many cultures it is also a season of giving. In the Czech Republic this is only a growing trend, and given the uncertain economic climate, charity is not necessary the first thing on people’s minds. Radio Prague spoke to Michael Stannett, the head of the Czech branch of the Salvation Army, or Armada Spasy, in Czech, and asked him if the current economic downturn has had a negative effect on how much people were willing to open their pocketbooks this Christmas season.

Rejected presidential candidate Senator Tomio Okamura on Thursday lodged an extensive complaint with the Constitutional Court against the election law that sets the framework for the country’s first popular vote. His protest, based on the claim that the law is unconstitutional, may jeopardize the first round of the election set for January 11 -12.

The pinnacle of Přemysl Sobotka’s political career to date has been his chairmanship of the Czech Senate. However, Mr. Sobotka, a euro-sceptic who questions multiculturalism, seems unlikely to reach the higher summit of the presidency – partly because he is the nominee of the Civic Democrats, whose long dominance on the right has waned.

The country’s fragile centre-right government is once again teetering on the brink: a major crisis flared up on Thursday when the prime minister fired newly-named Defence Minister Karolína Peake, the head of the LIDEM Party, after just eight days in office. The leadership of the Liberal Democrats in response called on its ministers to quit the cabinet by January 10, threatening the survival of the government.

Following a vote in the lower house, the Czech Republic’s two VAT rates should increase on January 1. However, if the president – a critic of the change – doesn’t play ball, the bill cannot come into effect, and, with very few working days left before the New Year, that uncertainty represents a major headache for Czech businesses.

Actress and civic activist Táňa Fischerová, one of the three female candidates running for president, is selling a dream: she is offering the disgruntled Czech public a vision of a better world. While some see her as a pioneer and a moral authority, others dismiss her as a hopeless idealist who would be eaten alive in the harsh world of high-level politics.