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Addressing the lower house ahead of a confidence vote in his centre right government on Friday Prime Minister Petr Necas asked deputies for support in the interest of pressing ahead with key reforms which would lead to stability and prosperity in the future. Professor Vladimira Dvorakova says that before this objective can be achieved –by this government or any other – the country will need to deal with its biggest problem: corruption and a lack of political ethics.

Just two years ago the name Karolína Peake was known to few people outside of the issue of playgrounds in Prague 1. Today she’s the keystone in the fractured coalition government. Last week, the 36-year-old deputy prime minister caused an upheaval in the government when she abandoned the junior coalition party Public Affairs, of which she has been a member since 2007, and took eight of the party’s MPs with her. The result of the split has been the departure of Public Affairs from government to the opposition, and a wafer-thin majority in Parliament

The University of California, Berkeley is one of 11 American universities where students can study Czech language, literature and culture. Small but dedicated groups of students grapple with the challenges of Czech grammar and pronunciation in up to three classes per week. Despite budget cuts throughout all departments of public universities in California, Czech, a niche central European language, still has its place at the Department of Slavic Languages and maintains enthusiasm amongst those eager to learn it.

Czech trade unions have decided that their show of force in mass demonstrations needs muscle. The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions says that tripartite negotiations with the government are over and it’s time for a new protest which, as their chairman Jaroslav Zavadil said, is going to hurt.

The legendary band Pražský výběr – one of the most influential bands from the Czech New Wave – are back. Recently the group, led by frontman Michael Kocáb announced they would put aside past differences and reunite for a series of concerts in the autumn.

The ruling coalition that won an unprecedented majority in the last elections is a thing of the past. On Tuesday, the Public Affairs party, decimated by the recent departure of a number of former members, left the government. The centre-right cabinet now faces a vote of confidence to test the strength of its support in the lower house.

Although opinion polls indicate that the vast majority of Czechs would like to see early elections, embattled Prime Minister Petr Nečas has decided to try and weather the latest crisis and will ask the lower house for a vote of confidence in his government on Friday. Amidst speculation that he may end up with a razor sharp majority, political analysts are questioning the wisdom of trying to hold onto power at any cost. Radio Prague spoke to Jiři Pehe about the repercussions this might have but - first and foremost - the legitimacy of this new political

This weekend saw thousands join an anti-government protest in Prague calling for an end to the current government and its reform policies, which critics call unnecessarily strict. The trade union-led demonstration saw as many as 100,000 people come out - with the promise that unless the government paves the way for early elections, protests will only be more intense.

The fate of the centre-right Czech government hangs in the balance after the junior coalition party Public Affairs split up, robbing the government of its comfortable majority in the lower house. The newly emerging pro-government faction around defector Karolína Peake is now trying to rally enough deputies to secure a viable majority in the lower house, but the key players on the Czech political scene are already preparing for early elections.

This Thursday saw the hosting of a Culture Plus event at Prague’s Černín Palace, co-organised by the Czech Foreign Ministry. On the table was the topic Culture & Diplomacy – namely how culture, including the arts, can be used to promote greater communication and understanding.