Czechs delay constitution vote

Outlining the debate in the Czech Republic over the EU Constitution is straightforward: there is no debate. At least, there is little real debate over the nuts and bolts of the constitutional treaty itself. Not yet. Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, who leads a fragile and often fractious centre-left coalition, said in Brussels recently that the Czech Republic could be among the very last countries to hold a referendum. A referendum will probably be held alongside parliamentary elections in 2006. Why wait so long? Analysts say the reason is simple: the government hopes that by 2006, most EU members will have already have voted "Yes". Czechs, they say, will not want to rock the boat.