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Carolina (English) No 081
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
School of Social Sciences of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs
Fax: (+422) 231 7391
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C A R O L I N A No 81, Saturday, June 26, 1993.
FROM LAST WEEK'S EVENTS (June 16-23, 1993)
Ludek Rubas appointed Minister of Health of CR
On Tuesday, June 22, President Vaclav Havel recalled Petr Lom from
the post of the Minister of Health and replaced him by Ludek Rubas.
For several weeks, the press had been writing about the possibility
of the recall of the Health Minister but the politicians had repeatedly
denied this possibility. The most recent denial came from Premier Vaclav
Klaus himself, on Wednesday, June 16, when he denied that any discussion
of this issue had taken place before the Civic Democratic Party caucus.
According to Cesky denik (The Czech Daily), Premier Klaus commented on
the possibility of recalling Petr Lom by saying that every minister is
subject to recall, but in the case of the Health Minister, this was not
an issue.
Hence, it was a surprise of sorts the next day when Vaclav Klaus
put forward a proposal to the President and to the governmental
coalition partners to recall the Health Minister. Vaclav Klaus also
expressed his regret over the fact that a recall of a cabinet member
could be perceived as a first rift in the only stable country of the
East European space. Petr Lom (Civic Democratic Party) is the first
member of the Klaus government who had to leave his post. The alleged
reason for this forced departure is that the former Minister did not
manage to convince the public about the progress of the transformation
process in health care.
Ludek Rabas (40) has been a member of the Czech Parliament, and
prior to that, he was a hospital director in Kolin in Central Bohemia.
Until 1991, when he joined the Civic Democratic Party, he was not a
member of any political party. Within the next two weeks, he plans to
work out a rough outline of the program of transformation of health
care. To his opinion, the responsibility of the patients for their own
health should be substantially increased, while the physician should be
made responsible for curing the patient.
Vladimir Dlouhy remains the most trustworthy politician
The latest public opinion poll indicates that 84% of the public
trusts the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy,
followed by 69% given to the Minister of Transportation Jan Strasky,
Premier Vaclav Klaus, and from the opposition, the long-time favorite
Jiri Dienstbier, the post-November (1989) Foreign Affairs Minister. In
the fifth place we find the Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik (65%) and
sixth is Deputy Premier Jan Kalvoda (64%). 56% of the population favors
the Foreign Affairs Minister Josef Zieleniec.
President Vaclav Havel, who was listed separately from other
politicians, is trusted by 65% of the people.
Election Preferences
If the elections were held in June, the governmental Civic
Democratic Party would secure the first place with a comfortable 29%
share of the votes, followed by the opposition Czech Social Democratic
Party (13%), the coalition Civic Democratic Alliance (11%), and the
opposition Left Bloc (8%), which is a coalition of the Communist Party
of Bohemia and Moravia and the Democratic Left. The results of this poll
appeared in the press this week.
Minister of Interior repeals exemptions from traffic regulations
After six weeks, the Minister of Interior Jan Ruml issued a repeal,
effective immediately, of the exemptions from the traffic regulations,
originally granted to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the
Parliament, to the Ministers and their first deputies, chiefs of certain
central bodies of state administration, and to the chairmen of political
parties represented in the Parliament. Among others, these exemptions
allowed not to use safety belts, to drive along safety zones on highways
and street car strips, to stop or stand in some otherwise forbidden
places, such as next to crossings, and to disregard speed limits.
As he said, he took these steps after taking into account the
negative public opinion, and after consulting with the recipients of
these exemptions. He further said that in cases of ugent nature, these
persons will be given police escort.
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovakia introduces import surcharges
Starting July 1, Slovak Republic is expected to impose surcharges
on certain imported goods.
As the Slovak Finance Minister Julius Toth announced at a session
of the Council of the Customs Union, the International Monetary Fund
approved an across-the-board twenty-percent rate of import surcharge
until the end of this year. After that, the rate should drop to 10%. It
is still not completely clear what commodities will be affected by these
measures. It is expected that groceries will be on top of the list.
According to the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, Vladimir
Dlouhy, the introduction of this surcharge is still subject to the
approval of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
Changes in Slovak Government
On Tuesday, President Michal Kovac accepted the resignation of
Ministers Lubomir Dolgos and Matus Kucera. Premier Meciar was appointed
the caretaker for the Ministry of the Administration and Privatization
of National Property, and the Ministry of Education will be temporarily
headed by Deputy Premier Roman Kovac. These steps were taken on the
advice of the Premier. Within three weeks, negotiations between the
governmental coalition between the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (the
ruling party) and the Slovak National Party are expected to be
concluded.
The popularity ranking of the politicians almost unchanged
Premier Vladimir Meciar, President Michal Kovac, and the Deputy
Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and the Chairman
of the Party of the Democratic Left, Peter Weiss, are the most trusted
politicians according to the latest opinion poll. These findings,
without percentage figures, were published by the Slovak news program
Actualities.
According to polls conducted in June, 36% of the Slovak public
believe that the Czech and the slovak Republics will reach an agreement
about property settlement. In contrast, 42% do not believe it.
EXCHANGE RATES OF THE CZECH CROWN (Kc)
purchase sale
Austria ATS 2.43 2.55
Canada CAD 21.61 23.39
France FRF 5.01 5.41
FRG DEM 17.04 17.96
Great Britain GBP 42.53 45.37
USA USD 28.85 30.25
These rates are as of June 23, 1993.
WEATHER
In Prague, as well as all over the Czech Republic, mild rain has
been alternating with moderate sunshine for the last week. Temperatures
fluctuate between 13 and 20 degrees Celsius, which dictates appropriate
choice of clothing. One tourist may be sporting a summer T-shirt, while
another wears a warm coat. What pays off every time is the choice of
good footwear. Not only because of ever-present puddles, but also
because it's summertime and you never know how far you may have to walk.
Of course, you don't have to wear shoes to step on the gas pedal, and
the sight of a barefoot businessman is refreshing in any season. If you
planto visit our Republic, plan ahead what is most suitable for you. At
this time, there seems to be no universal advice what to take along.
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Dear Readers,
instead of the last Czech issue, we inadvertently sent out the one
before (resulting in no English mailing). Taking into account that the
school has switched to summer regime, we cannot resolve this problem
immediately. We will send you the missing issue next week as a
correction.
Thank you for your understanding,
The Editors.
Translation: Slavek Kovarik <kovarik@mcmaster.ca>
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