Havel wants Albright as next Czech President

The initial reaction was disbelief but the media took up the suggestion and found support for Albright to be very high. The daily Lidove Noviny indirectly came out in support of the proposal when it published Friday a poll showing that the overwhelming majority of readers would like to see Albright succeed Havel at Prague Castle.

Two other personalities, Senate Speaker Petr Pithart and the Deputy Speaker of the Lower House Petra Buzkova, garnered a mere 10 per cent of support among those questioned.

Withoutopposing Havel’s choice, other newspapers noted that US state secrets held by Albright would be incompatible with her becoming head of state of another country.

They pointed out too that Albright could not be Czech President unless she became a Czech national.

Albright, who was born Marie Korbelova in Prague in May 1937, lost her Czechoslovak nationality when her father, a diplomat, emigrated to the US with his family after the Communist takeover in Prague in 1948.

Former prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, however, said suggesting Albright for president was “in bad taste”.

According to Lidove Noviny, one possible reason why Havel suggested a successor, was that he was considering stepping down on health grounds before the end of his five-year mandate.

Havel, 62, who was re-elected president in January, had a cancerous tumour removed from his lung in December 1996 and has suffered recurring serious health problems ever since.

His spokesman emphatically denied Friday a report that Havel could announcehis resignation in his traditional New Year speech to the nation.