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NOTEBOOK (Document #3) TIME Learns Madeleine Albright Is Being Urged To Run for President of Czech Republic
New York, NY - TIME has learned that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has begun to consider the possibility of running for the presidency of the Czech Republic once the second Clinton term is over. According to sources, she has let it be known to intermediaries that she is interested, but will not discuss a possible engagement in another country until her current one runs out. "I love my job representing the U.S.," she tells TIME's Ann Blackman.According to officials, current Czech President Vaclav Havel told Albright during a trip to Washington 18 months ago that he would like her to replace him as President of the Czech Republic. While Albright demurred at the time, former Czech ambassador to the U.S., Michael Zantovsky, reintroduced the idea to Havel in a meeting last week in Hradcany Castle. "The ball is on her side," Jiri Pehe, a former dissident and adviser to Havel tells TIME. "I think she would be the best candidate we could have for that position." "Albright's lips may not move, but her feet are about to do a lot of talking," writes Blackman. Next week, Albright will spend three days in the Czech Republic to commemorate the 150th birthday of Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. Given all the ceremony, Albright is sure to be asked about a possible run for president. "It is not impossible that they will talk about this," Pavel Fischer, Havel's chief policy adviser, tells TIME. If Albright were to run, it would also be extremely difficult as Czech polls show that the war in Kosovo was opposed by 75 percent of the Czech people. More troublesome, the Czech president is elected by members of Parliament. "I'm sure she won't have a problem finding a job after she's out of the State Department," Jonathan Stein of Prague's East-West Center tells TIME. "But I don't think that job's going to be in Prague."
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