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Carolina (English) No 132
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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.cz
Fax: (+422) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 132, Friday, October 7, 1994.
FROM EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (September 21-October 5)
Czech Polititians React to Slovak Elections
Slovak parliamentary election results did not surprise Czech Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus. (See election article below, in From Slovakia
section.)
"A stable government fit for action is needed both in Slovakia and
in the Czech Republic," Klaus said.
The party led by former prime minister Vladimir Meciar won the most
seats in the election, paving the way for a return to power by Meciar,
who was toppled last March when his party split.
Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec said the election results
should not considerably affect relations between the Czech and Slovak
republics.
Ivan Masek, head of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA)
parliamentarians, said he doubts the new Slovak parliament will survive
its whole term.
ODA Deputy Chairman Daniel Kroupa said the failure of the Slovak
right will result in difficulties forming a coalition government that
could lead the country towards membership in the European Union.
The leader Christian Democratic Party (KDS), Ivan Pilip, said the
elections confirmed a difference between Czech and Slovak orientations
and further transformation of the societies.
KDS Vice-Chairman Vaclav Benda described the result as sad. "I am
afraid very much afraid that it will be most difficult to form any
stable government with the combination of parties that have managed to
get into the Parliament," he said.
The opposite view is expressed by the chairman of the
non-parliamentary Moravian National Party, Ivan Drimal, who thinks that
Meciar's victory will bring Slovakia stability.
According to the Czech Social Democratic Party chairman Milos Zeman,
there is a risk of authoritarian government in Slovakia.
"It is obvious that the election outcome is one thing and the other
is how the government will be completed," said President Vaclav Havel in
reports October 2 from Connecticut. Havel had been in the United States
since September 27. Martina/Jirka
Baudys Didn't Leave Defense Without a Fight
As Antonin Baudys was being withdrawn from the post of defence
minister two weeks ago, he appeared with serious accusations at the
address of his own party.
The presidium of the Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak
People's Party (KDU-CSL) allegedly reproached him for not taking part in
building the party's treasury. Baudys said he always had a principled
attitude to such practices, which may have played a role in his
withdrawal.
Jiri Hanak in Lidove Noviny wrote that if these words are not true,
it is the most disgusting slander that has been made about a political
party in the post-November period.
Two days later, Baudys distanced himself from the statements and
said that KDU-CSL chairman Josef Lux rebuked him several times for not
being interested in party's financial situation. He said that other
statements were misquotations and inventions. Following this, the board
of KDU-CSL recomended that he file suit against the concerned media. But
Baudys has not done so to date and probably won't in the future,
according to an interview published in Mlada Fronta Dnes.
Jakub a Martin/Jirka
New Defense Minister Delivers First Address
"Military service should be a friendly and just matter," said new
Defense Minister Vilem Holan in his inaugural speech. "Mothers of
soldiers should not worry anymore."
Holan, who replaced Antonin Baudys after the former minister was
dismissed, said one of his top goals is renewal of the military's
reputation.
Tomas Fejfar, deputy chairman of the Security Committee in the Czech
Parliament, said "nothing can be worse than the term of the former
defense minister Antonin Baudys." Jakub a Martin/Vera
Czech Government Settled on Privatization of Petrochemical Industry.
The Czech government will allow the foreign industrial group IOC to
take part in the privatization of petrochemical refineries
of Chemapol Litvinov and Kaucuk Kralupy.
IOC is a consortium of oil giants Agip, Conoco, Shell and Total.
A contract establishing a shared company of the refineries is
expected to be signed in January. Under the terms of the agreement 51
percent of the shares, worth as much as 180 million dollars, will be
state-owned. Domestic investors may purchase shares from this stake in
the coming years.
The refinery issue has been under discussion for three years. This
May, government economic ministers recommended refinery privatization
under the Czech company of Chemapol. Yet, after Interior Minister Jan
Ruml indicated that the director of Chemapol had been an agent of the
secret police under the communist regime, the government postponed its
decision until Wednesday.
Officials of Chemapol are publically silent, but negotiations with
the government are on-going. Jirka/Vera
Trade Unions Seek Parliament Seats
Trade union representatives have begun negotiations with political
parties, including the Christian and Democratic Union-Czech People's
Party (KDU-CSL) and the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) with an eye
toward gaining seats in Parliament.
Speculation in the press focused on whether trade union officials
want to end the independence they have had until now.
Richard Falbr, head of the trade unions, later confirmed that his
organization wants to have six to eight representatives in Parliament.
Vladimir Dlouhy, the ODA minister of trade and industry, said he
would not mind having these names on the ballots of his party. However,
ODA head Jan Kalvoda said he has not yet thought about putting the names
on his party's ballot. Kalvoda also said he appreciates that the unions
do not intend to set up their own party.
Civic Democratic Party Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jindrich
Vodicka also did not rule out union officials appearing on his party's
ballot, provided the candidates were party members. Stepanka/Vera
Entrepreneur Miroslav Svarc Arrested
Benesov police detained well-known entrepreneur Miroslav Svarc on
September 29 on suspicion of embezzling 8 million Czech crowns. Police
also said they were detaining Svarc to deny him the chance to influence
witnesses, obstruct the investigation or continue criminal activity.
According to police, Svarc tried to solve his financial problems by
not paying taxes and insurance on his employees to the state. If guilty,
his debt to the state, including penalties, could reach more than 25
million Czech crowns.
The police action was strongly criticized by Rudolf Beranek, head of
the Union of Entrepreneurs, Rudolf Baranek. He accussed the Benesov
officials of concocting a plot, a move he said indicates official's
negative attitudes toward small- and middle-sized business.
Svarc could be set free as soon as charges are brought against him.
Besides other possible effects, the case endangers the existence of
the Svarc Benesov soccer club. The rise of Svarc Benesov, a novice in
the first league, was in large part caused by Svarc's involvement. The
team could face the loss of its main sponsor.
From reports in Lidove noviny Michal/Vera
FROM SLOVAKIA
Meciar's Movement for Democratic Slovakia Tops Elections
A stronger than expected election showing put former prime minister
Vladimir Meciar back in the driver's seat in Slovakia, as his party, the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), picked up just under 35
percent of the vote in weekend elections.
The showing will give HZDS 61 of the 150 seats in the Slovak
parliament.
Early parliamentary elections were called after HZDS split in March,
depriving the Meciar government of a majority.
Polls leading up to the election had shown HZDS getting only 26 to
29 percent of the vote. Analysts suggested that people were embarrassed
to admit they were planning to vote for Meciar, who, while popular at
home, is widely known to be viewed skeptically abroad.
The left-leaning coalition Common Choice finished a surprisingly
distant second, with 10.4 percent of the vote, enough for 18 seats.
Peter Weiss, chairman of the Democratic Left Party, the strongest
part of the coalition, did not hide his disappointment with the results,
and resigned from his post.
The Hungarian Coalition, with 10.2 percent of the vote, also gained
18 seats, and the Christian Democratic Movement, led by Jan Carnogursky,
picked up 10.1 percent of the vote and will have 17 seats.
Prime Minister Jozef Moravcik's
Democratic Union will have 15 seats based on its 8.6 percent showing.
The Worker's Front Union in Slovakia, a far-left party led by Jan
Luptak, received
7.34 percent and will have 13 seats. The final party to clear the 5
percent hurdle for entry to parliament was Jan Slotov's
Right Party and the Slovak National Party, with 5.4 percent and 9 seats.
Seven of the 17 parties contesting the election will be in the
parliament. Election turnout was 76 percent. Lukas/Eftychia
Meciar, Election Winner, Had Trouble Voting
The quiet of the first day of the Slovak election was interrupted
when former prime minister Vladimir Meciar, whose party would go on to
win the election, was barred from voting.
Meciar and the members of his family were prohibited from voting
because they were not registered in the list of electors at the
Evangelic School in Hluboka Street in Bratislava, near where Meciar
lives.
The local election office said the incident was caused by an
administrative mistake, which prevented 50 others from voting at the
school during the first hour of the elections. The voters were invited
back to the election room when the local office fixed the list of the
electors.
However, Meciar rejected the explanation, along with the excuses of
the chairman of the electing commission, and threatened to complain
about his voting rights. Meciar also denied allegations that he had
staged incident to build sympathy for HZDS.
"The Slovak election commission is working independently on us, and
from this, please do not be suspicious of me," Meciar said. "It is
obvious that I did not create it alone against myself. Do not give me
such absurdities." he told journalists.
Current Slovak Prime Minister Jozef Moravcik expressed regret for
the events. He said he will express his view after the end of the
incident.
He rejected allegationns that the intent of the affair was to question
the results of elections.
According to President Michal Kovac, he learned of the affair from
journalists waiting for him in the election room in Bratislava. He said
he hoped the whole thing would be resolved.
According to television reports, the same trouble voting happened to
Chairman of the Democratic Left Party Petr Weiss and his wife. Although
they were not in the list of electors, after certifying where they
lived, they added their names to the list and voted. Tereza/Eftychia
President Kovac Asks Vladimir Meciar to Form New Goverment
Slovak President Michal Kovac on Tuesday authorized Vladimir Meciar,
head of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, to try to assemble
a government.
Negotiations on assembling a coalition with the six other parties
represented in parliament will be headed by HZDS representatives Olga
Keltosova, Sergej Kozlik and Ivan Lexa, said party spokesman Dusan
Kleiman.
Although Meciar was given a letter by Kovac authorizing him to form
a goverment, Meciar has refused to comment on developments.
In a sign of on-going strain between Meciar and Kovac, During the
first post-election meeting of parliamentary party representatives with
Kovac, HZDS's Lexa demanded that the president step down.
Kovac replied that he would agree to the formation of a government,
but stopped Lexa from talking further, at which point Lexa and Keltosova
walked out of the meeting. Jan Slota, chairman of the Slovak National
Party, and Jan Carnogursky, chairman of the Christian Democratic Party,
left the assembly hall as well.
HZDS would need 90 percent of the votes in Parliament to remove
Kovac from office. Representatives of the governing coalition and
Hungarian political groups said that they would not participate in an
attempt to remove Kovac from office. Karolina/Martina
CULTURE
New Film by Svankmajer Debuts
On September 29, a new full-length film, "Lekce Faust," by Jan
Svankmajer was shown for the first time. It features the last
performance of Petr Cepek, the recently deceased actor.
Director Svankmajer is a major representative of surrealism who
first came to the spotlight with "Something From Alenka" in 1988.
"Lecke Faust" is a version of the Faust legend of dealing with the
Devil. Ludek/Martina
World Press Photos Again in Prague
From September 16 to October 10 visitors to the Prague Karolinum can
see nearly 200 winning photos from 93 countries, which competed in the
37th year of the World Press Photo competition. The show began April 26
in Amsterdam this year and the exibition is being shown in 39 countries.
The winner of Photo Of Year is the Canadian Larry Towell, who took
a picture of boys in the occupied Gaza Strip.
Roman Sejkot, an adjunct photo teacher at the Faculty of Social
Science in Prague, won third prize in the sport category for the Czech
Republic. His photos captured the story of a mentally retared, who
overcame a fear from water, and was nominated to the Special Olympics in
Madrid, where he set a new Czech record in the 200m breaststroke.
Jana and Andrea, Martina
ECONOMICS
Exchange rates of the Czech national bank (valid from October 7)
CHECKS CASH
country buy sell middle buy sell
Great Britain 1 GBP 44,002 44,444 44,223 42,80 45,64
France 1 FRF 5,258 5,310 5,284 5,08 5,48
Canada 1 CAD 20,584 20,790 20,687 19,80 21,58
Austria 1 ATS 2,553 2,579 2,566 2,51 2,63
Germany 1 DEM 17,962 18,142 18,052 17,59 18,51
Switzerland 1 CHF 21,666 21,884 21,775 21,28 22,28
USA 1 USD 27,755 28,033 27,894 27,19 28,59
Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34,502 -- --
SPORT
European Cup Will Go On Without Czechs
European football cups continued with return matches from the first
round, and both Czech representatives failed to advance.
Prague Slavia led twice over its Swedish rivals in the UEFA Cup, but
after a 2:2 draw, AIK Stockholm goes to the next round. Because the
first match also ended in a draw (0:0), it was the higher number of
goals scored on the away field that sent Sweden on to the next round.
Similarly, Viktoria Zizkov also ended with a draw (0:0) in its match
with the English FC Chelsea London in the Cup Winners' Cup, losing out
on a two-game score of 2:4.
By their performance, Slovak teams surely brought more pleasure to
their fans. Slovan Bratislava proceeded to the second round of the UEFA
Cup, beating FC Copenhagen 1:0, 1:1. Tatran Presov achieved success over
Dundee United in the Cup Winners' Cup, winning 2:3, 3:1. Rudolf/Jirka
Hockey Extraleague Full of Surprises
Hockey's biggest surprise come from Prague Slavia, which after good
results is among the first five teams. Pavel Richter's players have
shown they can win against strong opponents.
Meanwhile, Sparta is not showing results in keeping with the team's
powerhouse tradition.
3 round: Zlin - Ceske Budejovice 4:3, Olomouc Kladno 6:3, Jihlava
- Sparta 5:2, Litvinov - Plzen 5:1, Pardubice - Vitkovice 5:4, Slavia
- Vsetin 2:1.
4 round: Sparta - Litvinov 0:3, Vitkovice - Slavia 3:4, Zlin
- Jihlava 2:2, Ceske Budejovice - Vsetin 1:1, Kladno - Pardubice 4:3,
Plzen - Olomouc 0:2.
5 round: Olomouc - Sparta 4:2, Litvinov - Zlin 6:4, Vsetin
- Vitkovice 3:3, Jihlava - Ceske Budejovice 3:1, Pardubice - Plzen 2:2,
Slavia - Kladno 4:3. Tomas/Eftychia
>From Six-Days medal after six years
In the 69th International Motorcycle Six-Days in the United States
the Czech team won the bronze medal. The team, Vaclav Fojtik, Zdenek
Gottwald ml., Frantisek Hrobsky, Martin Macek, Libor Podmol and Lubomir
Vojkuvka, stood on the victory rostrum together with first-place Italy
and second-place Sweden.
Slovak Team II won the competition of teams, the Team I finished
fourth.
WEATHER
The first week of autumn has brought not only change of time (summer
to central European), but also considerable change of weather, with the
first frost and first snow. In the mountains in north and northwest
Bohemia there was snow, as in northern Moravia. Temperatures at night
range from -2 to 2 degrees Celsius, and during the day from 7 to 11
degrees. Martina, Petr/Martina
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