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Carolina (English) No 294
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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: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 294, Friday, June 19, 1998.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 10 - 17)
Campaign Ends, Social Democrats Still in Lead
The campaign for the June 19-20 early Parliament elections
officially ended June 17 at 2 p.m..
According to the last voter-preference poll taken by the STEM
agency, released by TV NOVA June 12, the strongest opposition party, the
Czech Social Democrat Party (CSSD), should win the elections with 23.2
per cent of the vote. Second place should belong to former Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) with 20.7 per cent
and in third place is the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM)
with 10.3 per cent. Next is the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak
People's Party (KDU-CSL) with 8.8 per cent and the Freedom Union (US)
with 8.4 per cent. Other parties that have a change to get into the
Parliament are the Retirees for Life Security (DZJ) with 7 per cent and
the neo-Fascist Association for the Republic-Republican Party of
Czechoslovakia (SPR-RSC) with 5.1 per cent.
In the last days of the campaign, which experts said was not very
well done (because of the lack of themes, ideas and the predominance of
personal affairs), some strange and unpleasant events took place. ODS
Chairman Klaus was the target of an egg during a June 12 rally in
Prague-Modrany. On Radio Alfa Klaus later blamed Social Democrat
Chairman Milos Zeman as being indirectly responsible for the incident.
"The Social Democrats ... talk about a scorched and tunneled country and
that is a perfect underpinning so that here in this country things like
today's will happen," said Klaus.
Singer Marta Kubisova got into a controversy over her song A Prayer
for Marta (Modlitba pro Martu), which became a symbol of defiance after
the Soviet army occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, was being used in
commercials for the Democratic Union (DEU), which Kubisova supports.
Lyricist Petr Rada and composer Jindrich Brabec turned to the Author's
Protection Union (OSA) with a complaint that the song was being used
without their permission. The Prague City Court ordered the spot to be
pulled, and June 15 Czech Radio discontinued its use. Czech Television
did not receive the court's decision in time and broadcast the spot also
on the last day of the campaign.
Nora Novakova/Sofia Karakeva
Havel: Return of Communism Not a Threat
President Vaclav Havel gave an exclusive interview to Czech
Television June 13 and also appeared on the private TV NOVA June 16. In
his last public statements before the early elections this weekend,
Havel urged citizens to vote. He also said this election is not
a question of right or left, but of the future direction of the country.
"It is being decided whether we are going to be a cultured, civilized
European democracy or a state of isolationists, of neutral, selfish,
small-town and strangely bitter people, who are blown about by
reciprocal jealousies and hatreds," is how Havel described the central
theme of the election for TV NOVA. Havel said to Czech Television that
he does not fear the return of Communism.
Havel complimented the government of Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky,
and said it improved the political culture of the country and found the
courage to take certain reform steps not taken by the government of
former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. Havel indirectly criticized Klaus on
Czech Television, saying the previous government had lacked "a move
toward the goal and a spark in its eye." Havel said he sees hope for the
Czech Republic in the changing of the political garniture. "I dream of
a government with a vision, of a government of younger people and
a government which thinks in the long term ... and which does what
politics should - serve the public.
"It seems to me that our best prospects are in some natural,
non-violent velvet exchange of generations," said Havel. As examples of
the younger generation Havel mentioned Minister Vladimir Mlynar (Freedom
Union), Interior Minister Cyril Svoboda (Christian Democrat), Defense
Minister Michal Lobkowicz (Freedom Union), Environment Minister Martin
Bursik (running for office on the Christian Democrats' ballot) and
Social Democrat parliamentary club Chairman Stanislav Gross.
Havel did not avoid the subject of his own abdication, saying he is
not planning such a step. "I can imagine abdicating, if my battles with
death, illness and operation continue ceaselessly and over and over
again," said Havel.
Ondrej Drabek/Michael Bluhm
The Senate House Refuses the Bill for Right to Information
The Senate June 11 refused the proposed Freedom of Information Act.
The upper house of Parliament returned the bill to the Chamber of
Deputies with changes. The bill was to change the ongoing situation
where many public servants refuse to provide information to citizens.
Thirty-three members of the Senate were in favor of the bill, two
shy of a majority in the one-third empty Senate. The bill was opposed by
almost all the Christian Democrat senators and most of the Social
Democrat and Civic Democratic Party senators. According to Christian
Democrat Senator Stodulka, there is no need for a law to ensure access
to information. "Giving information is more decency than an obligation,
and no law will legislate decency," said Stodulka in Czech daily Lidove
Noviny June 12.
Minister Vladimir Mlynar (Freedom Union), who initiated the
proposal, called the Senate's decision a very unfortunate step. Mlynar
said he will propose the law to the new Parliament formed after the
weekend's elections.
Michal Cerny/Sofia Karakeva
Black Passenger in MiG?
The cause of the crash of two Mig-21s into the Vltava residential
neighborhood in Ceske Budejovice was discussed in an emergency meeting
of Army pilots June 15, after which Chief of the General Staff Jiri
Sedivy confirmed that a technician, who was not supposed to be in the
plane, was riding in the cockpit of the plane that crashed into the
other MiG. Sedivy said the stowaway had nothing to do with the cause of
the accident.
There were no casualties or serious injuries as a result of the
accident (see Carolina 293).
Tomas Mls/Sofia Karakeva
NEWS IN BRIEF
* A memorial ceremony took place in Lidice June 13 to commemorate
the 56th anniversary of the burning of the village. The memorial was
attended by Administrative Board Chairwoman of the Czech-German Fund of
the Future Dagmar Buresova and Culture Minister Martin Stropnicky.
Lidice was wiped of the face of the earth by the Nazis in retaliation
for the assassination of Protectorate leader Reinhard Heydrich by the
Czechoslovak resistance.
* First lady Dagmar Havlova's daughter from her earlier marriage,
Nina Novakova, married Israeli musician Shalev Ad-El June 14 at the Lany
Chateau.
* TV NOVA June 12 apologized to former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus
and his wife Livia for a false report from November 1997, in which news
of Klaus owning a villa in Switzerland was based only on an unverified
statement by a former Police Director for Northern Moravia Jiri Sprusil.
* Fehim Hanusa and his son shot a 23-year-old policeman near Pilsen
(Plzen) June 13. The two, Yugoslavian citizens permanently living in the
Czech Republic, pulled a gun on people who wanted to make a phone call
from a pay phone on a street in Pilsen. The policemen, after arriving on
the scene, asked them for their papers, but, instead of documentation,
a car chase with a tragic end occurred. According to the Police
Presidium, this was the 26th death of a policeman in the line of duty
since January 1992.
* Before the dawn of June 10 several kilograms of chloral hydrate
escaped from the Farmak chemical factory in Olomouc, according to
a company spokesperson. The accident was caused by a breach in
production procedure. Two years ago a large amount of concentrated
sulphuric acid escaped from Farmak, and two people died of the
consequences.
* The National Anti-Drug Headquarters June 11 arrested one of the
leaders of a gang engaged in smuggling cocaine from Brazil to Germany.
Some 4,000 doses of cocaine were found in a room at a boarding house in
Prague 3 where the 42-year-old German J.G. was staying. The
international operation, in cooperation with the German police, had been
planned for six months.
Pavel Turek/Denisa Vitkova
ECONOMY
Budget Deficit Might Reach 20 Billion Crowns This Year
Finance Minister Ivan Pilip admitted June 12 that this year's state
budget deficit could reach 20 billion crowns.
According to Finance Ministry information, the deficit had reached
almost 7 billion crowns by the end of May. In addition, the state
treasury will have to reimburse the 10-billion-crown loss of the
Consolidation Bank (Konsolidacni banka) this year.
Tomas Mls/Denisa Vitkova
Skoda Sells Can Factory
Skoda Pilsen (Plzen) General Director Lubomir Soudek continued the
company's financial recovery by selling one of its worst investments,
a factory producing tin cans for drinks. The buyer is a German company,
Schmalbach-Lubeca, which controls approximately 30 per cent of the
market.
According to unofficial information, Skoda will get less than 800
million crowns for the factory, less than Skoda paid for it to be built
two years ago.
Tomas Mls/Denisa Vitkova
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank
(valid June 19)
country currency
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 20.305
Belgium 100 BEF 90.318
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.529
Denmark 1 DKK 4.894
ECU 1 XEU 36.848
Finland 1 FIM 6.129
France 1 FRF 5.559
Ireland 1 IEP 46.957
Italy 1000 ITL 18.909
Japan 100 JPY 24.258
Canada 1 CAD 22.713
Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.318
IMF 1 XDR 44.245
Hungary 100 HUF 15.392
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.533
Norway 1 NOK 4.406
New Zealand 1 NZD 17.300
Poland 1 PLN 9.646
Portugal 100 PTE 18.196
Austria 1 ATS 2.648
Greece 100 GRD 10.971
Germany 1 DEM 18.630
Slovakia 100 SKK 95.158
Slovenia 100 SIT 19.778
Spain 100 ESP 21.958
Sweden 1 SEK 4.222
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.301
USA 1 USD 33.246
CULTURE
Jam in the Jar
The third JAM music festival took place at the Jar (Dzban) summer
camp on the edge of Prague June 13. Eight differently styled bands,
ranging from the classic rock of Ivan Kral to the Finnish string quartet
Apocalyptica playing the repertoire of Metallica and Sepultura,
performed at the main outdoor stage. Senser, which had played in the
capital a month ago, returned with its mixture of metal and electronics.
The purest reggae was presented by Jamaician Bim Sherman. The trip-pop
songs of British trio Morcheeba, which has released the albums Who Can
You Trust? and Big Calm, was in tune with the setting sun.
Icelandic singer Bjork was the headline act and the sophisticated
peak of the festival. She performed in Prague for the second time, this
time dressed like a ballerina and accompanied by a small string
orchestra incorporated in her magical sound chemistry. Her performance
culled material from all three of her solo albums: Debut, Post and
Homogenic.
The festival's second stage was situated in a circus tent, which saw
performances by the Czech band Bullerbyne, inspired by the repertoire of
the Underworld, the Slovak hip-hop duo Trosky from Zlate Moravce, and
Supercharger, which returned to the Czech Republic and is to perform at
the Summer of Love festival June 27 in the Svojsice summer camp near the
eastern Bohemian town of Pardubice.
Pavel Turek/Milan Smid
Twilight of Memory in Belvedere
Jiri Beranek, a member of the 12/15 Free Association, is exhibiting
his work in the Summer Castle of Queen Anne, the Belvedere, (Belveder,
Letohradek kralovny Anny) until July 7. His installation composed of
blocks of sod, old roots and hay, which visitors can also see from the
inside, are situated in the Renaissance halls of the summer chateau. The
effects of the installed works are not restriced to visual perception,
the work also attacks the sense of smell and reminds visitors that turf
is an ancient material closely connected with the history of mankind.
Tomas Mls/Milan Smid
Director Evzen Sokolovsky Dies
Theater and television director Evzen Sokolovsky, 73, died in Prague
June 14.
Sokolovsky worked in theaters in Jihlava and Brno, and in Prague
served in the National Theater and in the E. F. Burian Theater. In the
60's he directed many Czech dramas, written by contemporary playwrights
like Milan Uhde, Ludvik Kundera and Jan Grossman. During the
post-Soviet-occupation normalization period of the early 70's, he left
the theater to work for television. He directed several television
miniseries by Jaroslav Dietl, including The Youngest of the Hamr Family
(Nejmladsi z rodiny Hamru), The Man in the Town Hall (Muz na radnici),
The Engineers' Odyssey (Inzenyrska odysea), and County in the North
(Okres na severu). In the 90's Sokolovsky returned to theater work.
Tomas Mls/Milan Smid
SPORT
Coach Ivan Hlinka to Continue Coaching National Team
Ivan Hlinka accepted the offer of the Czech Ice Hockey Union to
extend his contract to coach the national team for another two years.
Union President Karel Gut introduced Hlinka June 10 as head coach,
saying that Hlinka will choose his assistant. Hlinka wants Slavomir
Lener, but Lener is now considering an offer from the NHL's Florida
Panthers. He has to decide before June 21, when the new duo of
assistants will be named.
Hlinka and Lener came to the national team shortly before the 1997
World Championships, after the resignation of Ludek Bukac. They led the
team to the Olympic gold in Nagano and two bronzes in the World
Championships in 1997 and 1998.
Michal Cerny/Mirek Langer
Jiri Zidek Organizes Basketball Training Camp in Prague
The lone Czech basketball player in the NBA, Jiri Zidek, organized
a training camp for young talents from Prague's sport schools in the
Prague-Vinohrady gymnasium. The program also included an exhibition
match and an auction of basketball souvenirs Zidek collected in America
from NBA stars, like balls, jerseys and also shoes from players like
Shawn Kemp and Shaquille O'Neal. Money from the auction will go to the
HAIMA Foundation, which takes care of children with blood disorders.
David Kozohorsky/Mirek Langer
P.S.
The sports news are very brief today because all sports news, with
the exception of the United States, are playing second fiddle to
soccer's World Cup. The Czech Republic did not advance from its
qualification group, staying behind Spain and Yugoslavia. Referee Evzen
Amler is then the lone Czech representative in France. Soccer fans can
enjoy the tournament thanks to public broadcaster Czech Television.
Michal Cerny/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
Last week's weather was rich in storms, rains and showers. The Czech
highlands even experienced the shock of snow last weekend. In Ostrava
the rain was so violent that a state of flood emergency was declared.
Fortunately, in vain.
It looks like the weather has been rehearsing its performance for
the election days of June 19-20, to make people to go to the ballot-box
and not escape to their summer cottages in the countryside. Making
weather forecasts for the coming days is a risky proposition, just like
making election forecasts. Whether negotiations on the new government
will be accompanied by mild climate or by stormy and violent atmosphere
will be decided by the Czech electorate.... and by the weather?
Nora Novakova/Milan Smid
English version edited by Michael Bluhm
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