Paroubek - strong prime minister who lost his main topic - press.

(From Czech News Agency)

PRAGUE, June 1 (CTK) - Social Democrat (CSSD) Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has strengthened his position in the eyes of the public and among politicians for the first month in office, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes in an extensive analysis today.

The end of the first month brought three new things to Paroubek - he has ended his first dispute with President Vaclav Klaus, opened his first conflict with chairman of the junior government Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) Miroslav Kalousek and t importantly, the outcome of a referendum on the European constitution in which the French rejected the document has questioned the Czech government's foremost priority - the ratification of the EU constitution, the paper says.

Experts warn, however, that Paroubek has only fulfilled the first, easier part of his mission. To rule the government that must complete the difficult tasks set by the previous cabinets and also gain support of the public before the mid-2006 elections to the Chamber of Deputies will be more difficult.

Paroubek's best move was his dispute with Klaus, the paper says.

"He used the opportunity to make himself visible. Although that was a concrete dispute over the EU constitution, the main thing for Paroubek was to present himself as a strong man in his own party," political scientist Miroslav Bares from Brno-based Masaryk University says.

According to Jan Hartl from the STEM polling agency, Paroubek has so far profited from the position he adopted.