A Woman scorned

Some wives cut up their husband's suits in revenge for infidelity. Others give away their wine collections. But the wife of the new Czech prime minister has found a different way of hitting her husband where it hurts - running for a rival political party.

Mirek Topolanek, who became prime minister of the Czech Republic on Wednesday, described his wife Pavla's move as a "sweet revenge" after admitting on Friday that, as his wife had long claimed, he was having an affair with the deputy leader of parliament.

Mr Topolanek, 50, head of the conservative Civic Democrats (ODS), said his wife told him last week that she had joined the Right-wing party Politika 21.

"I was surprised but not cross," he said. She plans to run for the Senate in Ostrava, Mr Topolanek's home city.

ODS apparatchiks are furious. "A situation where the wife of a political party's chairman runs for another political party is extremely unusual," said Lukas Zenaty, the ODS leader in Ostrava. According to leading ODS members, Mrs Topolanek had told party leaders that her husband was having an affair with a senior party member.

She claims their failure to respond to her request for a political post led her to join Politika 21, which campaigns under the slogan: "No to political arrogance, corruption and wasting money".