When Vaclav Havel practically died of a ruptured gut as Czech president in 1998, docs offered each day updates on his situation.
Practically 1 / 4 of a century later, a Czech president is once more in hospital however the public has not been informed what’s flawed with him.
President Milos Zeman was taken into intensive care in hospital on Oct. 10. Since then, his spokesperson and docs haven’t offered a prognosis or stated how lengthy he might want to get well.
Politicians and members of the general public at the moment are asking whether or not the 77-year-old president is match to hold out his duties within the central European nation, the place communists held energy for over 4 a long time till the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
It’s all the extra worrying, they are saying, as a result of the Czech Republic has simply held an election and it’s the president’s responsibility to nominate the subsequent prime minister.
“We’re starting to appear like the Soviet Union or North Korea,” stated Michael Zantovsky, a spokesperson for Havel within the early Nineteen Nineties who now runs the Vaclav Havel Library, drawing comparisons with the secretive communist period.
The president’s spokesperson has stated Zeman has been speaking and following developments within the nation. Being in hospital has not obtained in the way in which of the president’s constitutional duties, he stated.
The spokesperson didn’t reply on Saturday to a request for touch upon Zeman’s situation.
Two teams that had been in opposition received a majority within the decrease home of parliament within the Oct. 8-9 election. Beneath the structure, it’s Zeman’s responsibility to simply accept the federal government’s resignation and appoint a main minister after the brand new parliament convenes for its first session on Nov. 8.
The higher home requested details about the president’s prognosis in a letter to Zeman’s workplace on Monday. It had acquired no response as of Saturday, a spokesperson for the chamber stated.
‘NOT IN GOOD HANDS’
Speaker Milos Vystrcil stated on Friday the Senate may enact a constitutional clause to alleviate Zeman of his duties after the decrease home convenes if the state of affairs doesn’t change.
He questioned whether or not Zeman was conscious of what his workplace was doing, telling reporters: “The president shouldn’t be in good palms.”
The Czech president is immediately elected. The federal government has a lot of the government powers however the president is the chief commander of the armed forces, appoints key personnel together with judges and central financial institution board members, and might problem amnesties.
If the president’s had been stripped of his powers on the grounds of incapacitation, his duties could be divided, principally between the decrease home speaker — who would appoint the brand new prime minister — and the prime minister.
Zeman’s spokesperson stated on Twitter the constitutional clause was meant for conditions comparable to when the president is in a coma or kidnapped.
“If grossly abused towards an individual who usually communicates and thinks, the president would grow to be a de facto state prisoner,” the spokesperson stated.
Citing an absence of clearance from Zeman, the hospital has stated solely that the president had problems associated to an undisclosed continual sickness.
Zeman’s spouse stated on Thursday his restoration would “take time” however gave no particulars.
Decrease home head Radek Vondracek visited Zeman on Thursday and stated the president felt higher.
The hospital rebuked Vondracek for visiting with out docs’ data, distanced itself from his feedback on Zeman’s well being and requested police to implement a ban on visits with out docs’ consent.
Zeman, a smoker, has beforehand battled diabetes and neuropathy – nerve harm or dysfunction – in his legs, and he has began utilizing a wheelchair.
He spent eight days in hospital in September, when his workplace stated no life-threatening issues had been found.
(Reuters)