Just a day after an unsuccessful attempt by the opposition to depose the Czech government through a vote of no confidence, the it started falling apart of its own accord. The first of its members to jump ship was Josef Dobeš, the minister of education. While his resignation was widely expected, and he remained in the position only because president Václav Klaus took him under his protective wing, five others could soon follow suit. Jaromír Drábek, Jiří Pospíšil, Alexander Vondra and Pavel Dobeš have been haunted by serious problems in their respective ministries, while foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg has been considering his position in the government ever since the Czech Republic refused to join the European fiscal union.
