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Carolina (English) No 211
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987
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C A R O L I N A No 211, Friday, July 19, 1996.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (July 4-18)
Parliament to Debate Confidence in Klaus July 23
Parliament Chairman Milos Zeman moved back the legislature's next
session to July 23, where Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus will present the
government's program declaration. The delay in the session, originally
planned for July 16, is connected with government's unwillingness to
give parliamentary deputies the program officially before its reading in
Parliament, the press reported. After a public exchange of opinions, the
publication of the text in thew media and Zeman's written request, Klaus
promised the chairmen of all parliamentary clubs will receive the
declaration July 19.l
Parliament has 30 days from the July 4 naming of the government to
express its confidence.
Court Rules Payment for Care and Medicine Unconstitutional
By repealing provisions in the insurance and healthcare laws and
regulations July 10, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the
complaint filed by 43 opposition deputies in the former Parliament
claiming citizens have the right to free medical care and medicine in
the Czech Bill of Rights.
The existing system, where citizens partially pay for visits to the
doctor and prescibed medicines, runs according to government and Health
Ministry regulations, without a legal code. The Constitutional Court
ruled a legal code which determines the extent of covered healthcare
must replace the regulations by April 1.
Health Ministry officials expect more trouble passing the laws in
Parliament than writing them, considering the opposition majority in the
legislature and the newness of the Senate, to be elected for the first
time this fall.
Ombudsman on TV
Parliament and Social Democrat Vice-Chairwoman Petra Buzkova
defended the need for the controversial ombudsman position July 10 on
the popular Arena television debate.
A quintet of opponents (including Supreme Court Chairman Otakar
Motejl and former Justice Minister and current Parliament Petition
Committee Chairman Jiri Novak from the Civic Democratic Party) objected
that the office of defender of public rights would be just another
building full of goverment officials, and that parliamentary deputies
can do the job just as well.
Buzkova was supported by 7,817 viewers, while 5,940 disagreed with
her.
Personal Information about Goverment Members
The highest academic title in the government belongs to Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic Party - ODS), who was
politically rehabilitated as a docent at the Faculty of Social Sciences
and served as a professor at the University of Economics. Foreign
Minister and government Vice-Chairman Josef Zieleniec (ODS) is the only
other member to have attained the title of docent, like Klaus at the
Faculty of Social Sciences. The only PhD. in the cabinet is Health
Minister Jan Strasky (ODS). Only Interior Minister Jan Ruml, denied
admission to university for political reasons, lacks a university
degree.
The oldest members of government are Strasky and Economy Minister
Jaromir Schneider (Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's
Party - KDU-CSL), both 56, Klaus is 55, Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik
(ODS) is 52 and Zieleniec is 50. At 33, the youngest cabinet member is
Education Minister Ivan Pilip (ODS).
All the government members are married, while Agriculture Minister
Josef Lux (KDU-CSL) has the most children, six. Klaus has two sons,
while only Pilip and Zieleniec have no children.
President Vaclav Havel, who referred to the cabinet as a good team,
expressed his sorrow July 7 that no women belong to the cabinet.
One Sentence
*** American First Lady Hillary Clinton, in the Czech Republic for four
days, expressed her support for the new democracies in central and
eastern Europe July 4 in a speech at Radio Free Europe's Prague
headquarters. Clinton also took an interest in healthcare financing,
visiting a hospital and childcare center during her stay.
*** At the presentation of a literary award to Czech Ambassador to
Germany Jiri Grus, former German President Richard von Weisacker voiced
support for Czech victims of fascism receiving damages before the
resolution of other contentious Czech-German issues (the Andreas Gryphin
Prize is annually awarded to German-language authors from eastern
Europe, Grus winning for his collection of poetry Der Babylonwald
a Wandersteine).
*** Tens of thousands made the traditional Cyril and Methodius
pilgrimmage July 4-7 in Velehrad near Uherske Hradiste. July 5 is
a national holiday in honor of the pair of Greek monks, who came to the
Great Moravian Empire in 863, translated the Bible and liturgical texts,
while Cyril (then known as Constantine)_ invented the Cyrillic alphabet.
*** Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, head of the Czech Catholic Church, expressed
his regret July 6 over the death of John Huss (Jan Hus), who strove for
church reform and was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415, the day
of his death now a national holiday. "A tranformation only economic is
small, a spiritual transformation is necessary, and therein lies Huss'
message," said Vlk.
*** Beginning July 7, 250 ecological activists created a four-day
blockade around the uncompleted and controversial Temelin nuclear-power
plant in southern Bohemia.
*** Former Parliament Chairman Milan Uhde was elected chairman of ther
Civic Democratic Party's Parliamentary Club July 16. Uhde won in the
third round of voting, after Jiri Honzajer, the former club chairman,
removed his name from the voting. Uhde's election strengthens the
position of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, Honzajer being one of Klaus'
few opponents within the party and Uhde having admitted a "willingness
to be Klaus' gopher for beer," according to the July 18 edition of daily
MF DNES
FROM SLOVAKIA
Hillary Clinton Briefly Visits Bratislava
As part of her 11-day tour of central and eastern Europe, American
First Lady Hillary Clinton stopped for seven hours in Bratislava July
6. She met individually with President Michal Kovac, Premier Vladimir
Meciar, Mayor P. Kresanek and representatives of 22 non-govermental
organizations, handicapped by new govermental regulations.
Stress in Hungarian-Slovak Relations
Pressures in Hungarian-Slovak relations rose with the conclusions
of a Budapest conference, Hungary and Hungarians Abroad, according to
which Hungarian official policy will support the creation of autonomy
for Hungarians living abroad. A sharp protest against the "gross
interfernce" in Slovak domestic affairs was made July 13 by members of
the Republic Board of the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. The
conference's conclusions werre also signed by Hungarian deputies from
the Slovak National Assembly.
ECONOMY
Kozeny and Dingman Officially Join Forces
President of Harvard Industrial Holding Viktor Kozeny and Stratton
Investments chief Michael Dingman merged holdings in forming Daventree,
a joint venture headquartered in Cyprus. Stratton and Harvard have equal
stakes in the partnership, which is to focus on investments throughout
central and eastern Europe, and looks to be listed on exchanges in
London and New York.
June Unemployment 2.7 Per Cent
Unemployment June 30 stood at 2.7 per cent, the same level as in
May, with Prague remaining the traditional center of low unemployment
(0.3 per cent) and northern Moravia its opposite (7.8 per cent). Sixty
per cent of the unemployed are women, according to data published in the
daily Pravo.
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from July 19)
country currency
Great Britain 1 GBP 41.470
France 1 FRF 5.323
Japan 100 JPY 24.819
Canada 1 CAD 19.542
Austria 1 ATS 2.560
Slovakia 100 SKK 88.100
Germany 1 DEM 18.026
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.067
USA 1 USD 26.848
ECU 1 XEU 33.979
SDR 1 XDR 39.030
CULTURE
Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) Film Festival Attracts Thousands
The June 21-9 Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) International Film Festival
in western Bohemia attracted thousands of moviegoers, a small
constellation of stars and rave reviews from the media, in contrast with
the recent Prague International Film Festival.
The film Prisoner of the Mountain, shot in Kazakhstan by Russian
director Sergej Bodrov, won the Crystal Globe award for the festival
best film, while American actor Gregory Peck received an award for
lifetime achievement, as well as an emergency appendectomy, in the spa
town. Other festival guests included Alan Alda, Rosie Perez, Julia
Ormond, Whoopi Goldberg, Olympia Dukakis, Pierre Richard and Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus. A number of the showings, which took place in six
cinemas, were sold out.
SPORT
Transfers of the Silver Soccer Players
The Czech Republic's surprising success in Euro 96 was immediately
followed by the exits of the team's stars to high-profile clubs. Petr
Kouba signed a four-year contract with Spain's Deportivo La Coruna,
while Radek Bejbl will likely go to the reigning Spanish champions
Atletika Madrid.
Pavel Nedved followed a complicated trail to Lazio Roma, while Euro
96 hero Karel Poborsky seems headed to Great Britain, probably either to
Manchester United or FC Liverpool.
Summer Special Olympics, a Memorial to Olga Havlova
About 800 athletes from 98 clubs and another 100 athletes from
Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia participated in the third-annual
Summer Special Olympics. The three-day games, inaugurated in Prague by
President Vaclav Havel July 4, took place with minimal public interest.
WEATHER
An old saying predicts cold in the Czech Republic after July 26,
but this year the whole first half of the month was chilly. Snow did not
fall as in the Pyrenees or South Africa, but neither were temperatures
close to the 40 degrees Celsius/106 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in
Ukraine. Cottage-goers could turn on the heat when nighttime
temperatures fell to 5 degrees Celsius/41 degrees Fahrenheit.
Today's summer-vacation issue of Carolina was prepared by Lida
Truneckova with a hand from family members - Ondra (first and third
articles) and Jiri (Sport), and by Michael Bluhm (Daventree and Film
Festival).
English version was translated and edited by Michael Bluhm.
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Dear Readers,
Because of some readers' queries about Carolina last Friday, we
will repeat the summer-vacctioo CCrollna schedule (Carolina 210 was
published July 4):
Carolina 212 August 2 Lida Truneckova
Carolina 213 August 16 Milan Smid
Carolina 214 August 30 Milan Smid
Carolina 215 September 13 Lida Truneckova
Carolina 216 September 27 Lida Truneckova
Carolina wishes its readers a happy summer.
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