Czech Republic President Milos Zeman in intensive care, but no diagnosis has been made

Czech president pressed in intensive care on Oct. 10, 2010.

Presidential office. Doctors say little about his condition, medics say little about him.

How did Vaclav Havel become President of Czech Republic?

Nearly a quarter of a century later, a Czech president is in hospital for not even a moment but the public hasn't been told what is wrong with him.

On October 10, Milos Zeman was taken to intensive care in hospital on Oct. 10. Since then, his spokesperson and doctors have not provided a diagnosis or said how long he will need to recover.

Politicians and members of the public are now asking whether the 77 - year old president is fit to carry out his duties in the Central European country, where communists held power for over four decades until the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

It is even more worrying, say they, because of the election in the Czech Republic and it is the president's duty to appoint the next prime minister.

We are beginning to look like the Soviet Union or North Korea, said Vaclav Havel, a spokesperson for Havel in early 1990 s, who now runs the Havel Library, drawing comparisons with the secretive communist era.

The president's spokesperson has said Zeman has been following the developments in the country. Being in hospital had not got in the way of the president's constitutional duties, he said.

The spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Zeman's condition on Saturday.

Two groups that were in opposition won a majority in the lower house of parliament in the election on 8 October 2009. Under the constitution, it is Zeman's duty to accept the government's resignation and appoint prime minister after the New parliament convenes for its first session on Nov. 8.

The upper house requested details about Zeman's prognosis in a letter to the president's office on Monday. It received no response as of Saturday, a spokesperson for the chamber said.

Speaker Milos Vystrcil said on Friday that the Senate could enact a constitutional clause to relieve Zeman of his duties after the lower house convenes if the situation does not change.

He asked whether Zeman was aware of what his office was doing, not telling reporters: The president is in good hands. The Czech President is directly elected by the President. The government has most of the executive powers, but the president is the chief commander of the armed forces, appoints key personnel including judges and Central Bank Board members and can issue amnesties.

If the President was stripped of his powers on the grounds of incapacitation, his duties would generally be divided between the new prime minister and the lower house speaker ; who would choose the new prime minister -

Zeman's spokesperson said on Twitter the constitutional clause was meant for situations such as when the president is in a coma or abducted by the president.

If grossly abused against someone who normally thinks and communicates, the President would become a de facto state prisoner, spokesperson said.

Citing a lack of clearance from Zeman, the hospital has said only that the President had complications related to an undisclosed chronic illness.

Zeman's wife said on Thursday that his recovery would take time but gave no details.

Head of Lower House Radek Vondracek visited Zeman on Thursday and said the president felt better.

The hospital rebuked Zeman for visiting without doctors' consent, distanced itself from his comments regarding Vondracek's health and asked police to enforce a ban on visits without doctors' consent.

Zeman, a smoker, has previously battled diabetes and neuropathy in his legs - nerve damage or dysfunction - and started using a wheelchair.

In September he spent eight days in hospital as his office said there were no life-threatening problems discovered.