The current turmoil in the ruling coalition has been seen by many politicians as a major shake-up for the whole country

The current turmoil in the ruling coalition has been seen by many politicians as a major shake-up for the whole country, but is in fact nothing more than a mere storm in a tea cup following the reaction of financial markets across Europe. And it transmitted a crucial signal to investors -- the dependence of currency markets on local political development has been reduced to a minimum. Going against conventional wisdom, the political controversies threatening to bring down the government failed to weaken the crown. In fact, the crown continued to strengthen even when the crisis seemed to be hitting its apex. "Although the political scene looked the most unstable in the region, the Czech crown was ironically the most successful currency in the region in terms of its strengthening," said Komercni banka analyst Jan Vejmelek. Turmoil on the political scene came to a head Feb. 19 after the chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), Miroslav Kalousek, called on Prime Minister Stanislav Gross to resign, due to nontransparent financial transactions by his family. Gross, who is also acting chairman of the Social Democrats (CSSD), has come under sharp criticism over how he could afford his 4 million Kc ($176,834) Barrandov apartment. Media reports of his wife's business activities added fuel to the fire. In financial terms, the political shake-up cost the crown some 15 hellers in the short term, said Next Finance analyst Marketa Sichtarova.