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Carolina (English) No 359
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Social Sciences
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 359, Friday, January 21, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 12 - January 19)
ODS and CSSD to Broaden Opposition Contract
After five hours of negotiations, the ruling Social Democrats
(CSSD) agreed with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) January 14 on an
amendment to the Opposition Contract, which allows the minority CSSD
Government to exist in exchange for prime state posts for ODS. The
amendment is comprised of five agreements - on the budget proposal for
2000 and further budget planning, on changes to the Electoral Act, on
joining the EU, on ODS tolerance of the minority Government and on
communication between the parties' parliamentary clubs. ODS will support
the Cabinet's third budget proposal only if the agreements are finished.
ODS and CSSD each named two representatives to prepare the agreements.
Both parties said the Opposition Contract was assuring the stability of
constitutional institutions, and recent months had proved there is no
other alternative.
The vote on the budget had been scheduled for January 18 but was
postponed until January 26 to provide more time to negotiate the first
two agreements.
Before the January 14 CSSD-ODS meeting, some media published
a report that the Social Democrats offered the Christian Democrats
(KDU-CSL) the abolition of the Opposition Contract in exchange for
supporting the budget. Christian Democrat Vice Chairman Cyril Svoboda
confirmed the rumor, while Prime Minister Milos Zeman strongly denied
any offer was made.
The Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union (US) reacted
negatively to the broadening of the Opposition Contract. Freedom Union
Chairman Karel Kuhnl said the amendment signals the founding of a new
"dual-party" and that both parties were really agreeing on the
preservation of their positions of power. Christian Democrat Chairman
Jan Kasal said the fulfillment of the agreements will mean the utter
demoralization of the Czech political scene. Kasal said both parties
will pay dearly for their power play, because voters preferences of the
Four-Party Coalition (US, KDU-CSL and two small parties) will rise.
Czech Physicians' Chamber Asks Pacients to Sponsor Doctors
The Czech Physicians' Chamber (CLK) called on pacients to sponsor
their doctors, according to a flyer published in CLK's magazine Tempus
Medicorum and distributed among doctors since January 14. The magazine
also contains a sample Sponsorship Agreement to be signed by pacient and
doctor.
The new conflict in healthcare financing began when the Government
announced it was lowering the amount the state-owned General Health
Insurance (Vseobecna zdravotni pojistovna, VZP) would pay doctors for
services in the first half of 2000. CLK President David Rath said the
decision will lead to a significant decrease in the quality and
availability of healthcare. Rath said the prices set by the Government
mean doctors will receive an average of 7 per cent less for their
services, emergency specialists 15 per cent less and hospitals 10 per
cent less. Rath said if health insurance companies do not adhere to the
CLK request to ignore the Government decision, CLK will ask pacients for
sponsorship gifts. A minimum first gift should be 100 crowns while each
successive visit should cost the pacient at least 50 crowns. The Czech
Press Agency (CTK) reported January 19 that all health insurance
companies were respecting the Government decision.
Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, temporarily in charge of the
Health Ministry after the resignation of Ivan David, expressed his
opposition to sponsorship. He warned that doctors who accept money might
be violating their agreements with insurance companies and laws on
public health insurance and healthcare. The Pacients' Union is also
against sponsorship. Rath said the gift is not compulsory and its
non-payment will not threaten care for pacients.
Doctors were to ask for sponsorship gifts from January 17. Notices
asking for sponsorship gifts were not visible in the majority of the
medical offices. Some doctors and healthcare facilities have also
rejected the sponsorship idea on ethical grounds.
Jan Palach and Jan Zajic Monument Opens on Wenceslas Square
Thirty-one years after the self-immolations of Jan Palach and Jan
Zajic they were honored by a monument in front of the National Museum at
the top of Wenceslas Square in Prague. Palach and Zajic, in 1969 both
students of the College of Humanities (Filozoficka fakulta) of Charles
University, killed themselves to protest the lethargy of the people
after the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armies of the
Warsaw Pact in 1968. Officials from Prague's First District and
Palach's hometown of Vsetaty were present at the unveiling of the
monument. Unlike last year's 30-year anniversary commemorative
ceremonies, no Czech political leaders attended the unveiling.
Palach immolated himself January 16, 1969 and died three days
later. He was followed by two men - Zajic and worker Emil Plocek.
The students' deed is comemmorated by two low grave-like mounds
with a cross. The memorial, created by artist Barbora Vesela and
architects Cestmir Houska and Jiri Vesely, shows a figure resembling
a torch. "Although the memorial is not big it represents big ideas, love
of country and the resolve to fight for it," said Antonin Vrba of the
Vsetaty-based Jan Palach Society.
Others comemmorated Palach at the Olsany Cemetery, where Palach's
remains were moved from Vsetaty in 1990.
Prison Protests End
Prison inmates' protests, set off in half the country's prisons,
ended January 13. No unrest has been noted since then. Some prisoners
continue their hunger strikes, but their number has decreased. The
greatest number of hunger strikers are in Vinarice Prison, where the
protests began. Hunger strikes were also held in prisons in Valdice,
Hermanice and Kurim.
The main cause of prisoner dissatisfaction is overcrowding. They
also protested against new prison laws which force them to pay rent for
their stay in prison.
The protests evidently led to improvements in hygiene and food (the
daily amount spent per prisoner will increase from 35 crowns to 45
crowns). Prison Service officials did not respond to calls for personnel
changes in the management in various prisons nor to dissatisfaction with
the new laws.
Two Winners for Record Lottery Jackpot
Two happy winners, who exactly guessed all six numbers in the
Sportka lottery January 12, will split the record jackpot of 108 million
crowns. The largest single win in Sportka's history still remains the
59,995,067 crowns won last June.
The size of the jackpot caused a betting fever: on the last day
before the drawing on-line betting systems recorded 2.5 million
transactions. The television station Prima claimed people purchased
tickets worth 288 million crowns in the three days before the drawing.
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Operation Clean Hands, one of the trumps of the Social Democrats'
1998 election campaign, has not achieved the expected results. Deputy
Prime Minister Jaroslav Basta and his Coordination-Analytic Group (KAS)
anti-corruption activities will be taken over by the offices of Justice
Minister Otakar Motejl and Attorney General Marie Benesova. Basta's
group is going to be dissolved by June 30 and a new public prosecutor's
office for economic crime will be established.
* According to a poll taken by the STEM agency, the Civic Democratic
Party (ODS) would be the strongest party in Parliament if elections were
held today. ODS' voter preferences were 22.1 per cent. The Communists
(KSCM) were in second place with 17.9 per cent, the Social Democrats in
third with 15.4 per cent. Only two other parties would reach the
5-per-cent minimum necessary for getting seats in Parliament - the
Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) with 12 per cent and the Freedom Union
(US) with 10.6 per cent.
* The Senate January 13 did not approve the new Press Act and
returned it to the Chamber of Deputies with several amendments. The
Senate wants to increase the number of copies given by publishers free
of charge to public libraries. The Senate also proposes shortening the
deadline for publishing a reply or a rectification from eight days to
five days from the date of receiving such a request.
* The Czech Television Council, the nine-member supervisory body with
the authority to appoint the general director of public-service
broadcaster Czech Television (CT), has selected five candidates for
position of general director. Ivo Mathe, former general director and
current chief of staff for President Vaclav Havel, is not included, in
spite of the fact that several professional groups (CT employees,
producers and technicians) lobbied heavily for his reappointment. The
successor to Jakub Puchalsky who stepped down December 15 (see Carolina
357) will be chosen from: Zdenek Drahos (head of CT's Brno regional
studio), Ilja Racek (theater director, now working in the Culture
Ministry), Dusan Chmelicek (head of CT's legal department), Kamil Cermak
(marketing director of Czech Telecom) and Petr Sladecek (former program
director of TV NOVA who did not join Vladimir Zelezny in deserting his
American investors, CME).
* Ivan Langer, Vice Chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS),
said in an internet debate with readers of the iDNES e-zine that ODS
Chairman Vaclav Klaus is the best candidate to be the next Czech
president. "Since Vaclav Havel cannot be elected for the next term, I am
convinced that there is no other personality in the Czech Republic with
such prestige and authority at home and abroad, and at the same time has
such experience as a statesman, than Vaclav Klaus," wrote Ivan Langer an
answer to a question from a iDNES internet reader.
* The Constitutional Court decided that the Czech Social Democratic
Party (CSSD) is the owner of the People's House (Lidovy dum). The
legality of CSSD's ownership of the People's House, the party
headquarters in downtown Prague built at the turn of the century and
expropriated by the Communists in 1948, was called into the doubt by the
state authorities, particularly the Finance Ministry, after 1990. In the
meantime the party rented office space in the People's House to an
Austrian company, BH Centrum, which paid rent into a frozen bank account
for several years. Party Vice Chairman Karel Kobes said the sum of about
180 million crowns on the now-unblocked bank account will help improve
the financial situation of the party. The People's House, which now
houses the American Cultural Center, was formerly the Lenin Museum.
FROM SLOVAKIA
Premier to Found New Party
Mikulas Dzurinda, premier and chairman of the ruling Slovak
Democratic Coalition, January 17 announced his intention to found a new
political party: the Slovak Democratic Christian Union (SDKU). His
announcement immediately sparked a wave of opposition, namely from the
ranks of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), a member party of the
Government coalition.
KDH Chairman and Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky said "by the
declaration of the SDKU the SDK ceases to exist," and that his party
regretted that fact. Dzurinda claims the SDK will not dissolve and will
continue to fulfill its campaign promises. The governing coalition's
priority now is to last the entirety of its term of office and hold
regular elections, because early elections would give an advantage to
the opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) of former
Premier Vladimir Meciar. HZDS announced January 15 it would begin
circulating a petition to call for early elections.
The SDK was formed by five parties before the 1998 elections to
defeat Meciar, but today only the KDH would probably muster enough voter
support to make it into the legislature.
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* As of January 15, Slovak citizens traveling to Finland must have
a visa. Finland introduced the requirement again (after canceling it in
November) when some 200 Slovak Romanies requested asylum in Finland
around the Christmas holidays. The visa requirement will last until July
15. In Europe, Slovaks need visas for Norway, Denmark, Great Britain and
Ireland.
ECONOMY
1999 Budget Finishes with Deficit of 29.6 Billion Crowns
The state budget deficit for 1999 was 29.6 billion crowns, 1.4
billion crowns less than projected. Prime Minister Milos Zeman's
Government became the first since 1996 to fulfill its approved budget.
Income totaled 567.3 billion crowns, 6.8 billion less than was planned,
mainly because social insurance payments were some 16 billion crowns
below estimates. Expenses reached 596.9 billion crowns. The budget
deficit was equal to 1.6 per cent of the country's GDP.
Government Considers Takeover of ZVVZ Milevsko
Finance Ministry spokesman Libor Vacek said January 13 the
Government is considering taking over the engineering company ZVVZ
Milevsko, because the firm is to provide climate-control technology for
a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran.
The Government would like to halt the deal, because it fears
sanctions for bucking the embargo on providing Iran products connected
to nuclear technology. ZVVZ Milevsko owner GES Holding has not commented
on the issue, while the price of ZVVZ Milevsko's shares has been
steadily rising.
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid January 21)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 36.095
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 23.709
Great Britain 1 GBP 58.845
Denmark 1 DKK 4.848
Japan 100 JPY 33.828
Canada 1 CAD 24.620
IMF 1 XDR 48.810
Hungary 100 HUF 14.149
Norway 1 NOK 4.461
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.376
Poland 1 PLN 8.739
Greece 100 GRD 10.913
Slovakia 100 SKK 85.323
Slovenia 100 SIT 18.053
Sweden 1 SEK 4.196
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.353
USA 1 USD 35.731
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 18.455
Belgium 100 BEF 89.477
Finland 1 FIM 6.071
France 1 FRF 5.503
Ireland 1 IEP 45.831
Italy 1000 ITL 18.642
Luxemburg 100 LUF 89.477
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.379
Portugal 100 PTE 18.004
Austria 1 ATS 2.623
Spain 100 ESP 21.694
CULTURE
Josef Topol and Jiri Krupicka Win Czech PEN Club Awards
A five-member jury headed by David Lukes awarded this year's Karel
Capek Prize, sponsored by the Czech PEN Club, to dramatist Josef Topol.
His name is connected with the legendary Theater behind the Gate
(Divadlo za branou), where he worked with director Otomar Krejca and
dramaturg Karel Kraus until the theater was banned in 1972. "Topol's
life's work significantly affected postwar theater by discovering new
dramatic methods for the Czech theater just as Karel Capek did before
the war," said Lukes. "I'm terrified by it. My son Jachym (a novelist)
laughs at me and says, 'Dad, enjoy it.' I guess I'm going to have to get
used to it," said Topol. Topol received the prize January 16 in the
residence of the Prague mayor. President Vaclav Havel also sent Topol
a letter of congratulations.
Jiri Krupicka was awarded the PEN Club's prize for the promotion of
Czech literature. Krupicka, who studied philosophy and geology,
emigrated after 1968 and worked as a professor of geology in Alberta,
Canada. The award was accepted by Krupicka's grandson Martin Horak.
It Is Dangerous to Insult Stars - Karel Gott and Expo 2000
A short column under the headline Hannovergott written by historian
Zdenek Lukes published in the cultural supplement of the daily Lidove
noviny January 6 launched a major national affair. Lukes criticized the
fact that pop singer Karel Gott will be the top star at the Czech
Republic's day at the Expo 2000 world's fair in Hannover, and said:
"This zombie (Gott) has been haunting me since my childhood. From the
middle of the 60's he has been spoiling the good taste of several
generations."
Gott was so offended by the column that he cancelled his appearance
at Expo 2000 and threatened he never perform again in the Czech
Republic.
Gott's decision brought about replies from Culture Minister Pavel
Dostal, General Commissar for Expo 2000 Vaclav Bartuska and President
Vaclav Havel. Dostal appealed to Gott in an open letter not to be
frustrated by the hatred of publicity-seekers with inferiority
complexes. Gott also received support from Germany, where a Hannover
radio station broadcasted a program Come, Karl, Come and Gott's fans
organized a demonstration concluded by a rendition of a Gott song from
the popular children' cartoon Maya the Little Bee (Die Biene Maja).
After meeting with Dostal and Bartuska, Gott finally reversed his
decision and agreed to go to Hannover. Gott said the Czech Republic
certainly has better artists, but asked what art is worth if no one
comes to see it.
An editorial published by Lidove noviny said, "Karel Gott is of
course not a sacred institution that cannot be criticized. We consider
Karel Gott's campaign for his untouchability and freedom from criticism
an attack on the freedom of our authors."
SPORTS
Pilsen Defeats Champion, Kladno Rises from Cellar
The big event of the 36th round of the hockey extraleague was the
defeat of last year's champ Vsetin by Pilsen (Plzen) 7-0. Vsetin was
missing goalie Roman Cechmanek (hand injury) and could do nothing to
stop their opponent's entertainment of its home fans.
After a string of defeats, last-place Kladno won two straight
matches and left the bottom of the standings, replaced by Vitkovice.
Results of the 35th round: Trinec - Vitkovice 5:3, Zlin - Plzen
0:3, Litvinov - Karlovy Vary 3:3, Havirov - Vsetin 3:4, Pardubice
- Slavia 1:1, C. Budejovice - Kladno 4:2, Sparta - Znojmo 3:1.
Results of the 36th round: Kladno - Litvinov 5:3, Plzen - Vsetin
7:0, Zlin - Trinec 5:2, Karlovy Vary - Sparta 2:5, Znojmo - Havirov
8:4, Slavia - C. Budejovice 1:3, Vitkovice - Pardubice 1:3. Postponed
matches (January 18): Kladno - Slavia 4:3, Trinec - Sparta 4:2
Standings after the 36th round: 1. Sparta 50 points, 2. Plzen 47,
3. Vsetin 47, 4. Zlin 45, 5. Ceske Budejovice 41, 6. Trinec 39, 7.
Litvinov 36, 8. Znojmo 33, 9. Havirov 29, 10. Pardubice 29, 11. Slavia
28, 12. Karlovy Vary 27, 13. Kladno 25, 14. Vitkovice 24.
WEATHER
Cold, moist air did not warm up our cold souls, left to shiver
during the exam period. Temperatures fluctuated quickly between 5
degrees Celsius/41 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 5 degree Celsius/22
degrees Fahrenheit, while rains and occasional snowstorms created slush
in Prague's streets and snow emergencies in the countryside and on
mountain roads. Fortunately, there were ways to bring warmth into our
lives and souls via heated debates about Karel Gott being a zombie,
about changes to the Opposition Contract and speculation on the next
Czech Television general director. The prognosis for next week - wet and
chilly weather brought to us by strong winds from western Europe.
This issue of Carolina was written by Lubos Kratochvil, Ondrej Maly,
Veronika Hankusova, Marek Uhlir (From Slovakia), Jakub Trnka (Economy),
Jan Vedral Jr. (Culture and Weather) and David Luksu (Sports) and
translated by Maly, Hankusova, Milan Smid and Michael Bluhm.
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