AFP/Prague

Eurosceptic former Czech president Vaclav Klaus said yesterday that he is considering returning to politics and launching a right-wing party to compete in October elections aimed at ending months of turmoil.
“The situation strikes me as desperate. If there is a chance to have a say, it would be worth it,” said the 72-year-old in an interview with CT 24 public television.
“But it has to be like a river that flows from many tributaries,” added Klaus, whose second and final term as president ended in March.
The Czech Republic has been mired in political crisis since former prime minister Petr Necas stepped down over a bribery scandal in June involving his top aide and lover.
Necas’s Civic Democrats (ODS) – the right-wing party Klaus founded in 1991 – paid dearly for the scandal and is expected to do badly in the polls.
The opposition Social Democrats are tipped to emerge as the strongest party after the vote, which is being held on October 25 and 26, seven months ahead of schedule.
Klaus said he had not yet decided whether to return to politics, conceding there was not much time left.
He split with the ODS in 2008 to protest against the policies of its leadership, accused of being too close to big business and lobbyists.
Media reports said the head of the small eurosceptic party Sovereignty, Jana Bobosikova, and the former deputy head of the ODS, Boris Stastny, would join forces with Klaus.