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Carolina (English) No 384
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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 ISSN 121-5040
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 384, Friday, July 28, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (JULY 12-26)
Havel files complaint with Constitutional Court on Electoral Act
Czech President Vaclav Havel signed a complaint for the
Constitutional Court concerning the recently passed Electoral Act July
15. Havel, whose veto was overridden by the Chamber of Deputies, has
long criticized the controversial act. He wants the Court to determine
whether the act corresponds with the proportional electoral system for
the Chamber of Deputies given by the Constitution. A Constitutional
Court decision would be the only way to stop the act from taking effect.
Havel said he does not agree with increasing the number of
electoral districts from eight to 35, with raising the minimum required
for coalitions to enter the Chamber from 7 per cent of the vote to seven
to 10 per cent for two-party coalitions, 15 per cent for three-party
coalitions, etc. Havel said he also opposes the D'Hondt method for
calculating percentages of the vote.
The change to the Electoral Act is the brainchild of the two major
parties - the Social Democrats (CSSD) and the Civic Democrats (ODS, see
Carolina 382 and 383) and the most powerful parties would be helped by
the changes, according to its critics. Also, senators from the Christian
Democrats (KDU-CSL) want to file their own complaint to the
Constitutional Court. Lida Truneckova/Ondrej Maly
Deputies Do Not Accept Government Report
The Chamber of Deputies July 14 did not accept the report submitted
by the government on the fulfillment of its program declaration. The
minority government's report was accepted on the first vote, but the
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) asked for a new vote, and with 14 deputies
missing from the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD) the report fell one vote
shy of being accepted.
Prime Minister Milos Zeman said he was nevertheless satisfied with
the result of voting and said the vote was progress from last year, when
the Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution saying the government was
not benefiting the country.
According to the government report, foreign investments are on the
rise, as are GDP and real income. Inflation is falling and the
unemployment rate is stable. Opponents say the government has had no
part in revitalizing the economy and connect the positive indicators
with worldwide growth. Lida Truneckova/Ondrej Maly
NEWS IN BRIEF
* The loading of fuel into the first reactor of the Temelin nuclear
power plant (see Carolina 383) was completed July 14 and according to
inspectors (the International Atomic-Energy Agency was present) complied
with regulations. Three days later Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav
Klaus visited the site and praised its technological quality. Temelin
should begin providing power in the fall.
* The government approved a National Battle Plan against the
Commercial Sexual Abuse of Children July 12. Measures proposed include
amending the criminal code's paragraphs on distribution of child
pornography, rape and white slavery, while healthcare workers would be
required to report cases of child sexual abuse. The problem should also
be covered in sexual education programs in schools. The media has also
dealt with the issue, giving particular coverage to foreigners coming
here for child prostitutes.
* The Prague-Dresden D8 highway will go through the nature reserve of
the Central Bohemian Highlands (Ceske stredohori). The Environment
Ministry granted an exception for the construction of the 16km section
between Lovosice and Usti nad Labem, ending a five-year conflict.
Minister Milos Kuzvart announced the exception July 20. The ecological
organization Children of the Earth has announced it will appeal the
decision.
* The Czech Republic officially had 10,273,000 residents at the end
of March. The number has decreased by about 10,000 residents annually
since 1994. A declining birth rate is to blame ,with last year being the
first in which less than 90,000 babies were born here.
* Jaroslav Basta, until March the Social Democrats' Minister without
Portfolio, will become the Czech Republic's ambassador to Moscow. The
Czech Embassy in Moscow has been leaderless since the beginning of the
year, when former Defense Minister Lubos Dobrovsky resigned.
Lida Truneckova/Michael Bluhm
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Forced Laborer Compensation Moves Forward
The Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, the
USA, Israel, the Jewish Claims Conference and victims' lawyers July 17
signed in Berlin a political declaration welcoming the establishment of
a fund to compensate WWII forced laborers in Nazi Germany. The German
government and private firms will contribute 10 billion deutschmarks to
the fund, and compensation will be paid out gradually. There are between
60,000 and 70,000 Czech citizens who were forced laborers, and they
should receive about 423 million deutschmarks.
Lida Truneckova/Michael Bluhm
Foreign Minister Jan Kavan Visits Middle East
Foreign Minister Jan Kavan met with his Israeli counterpart David
Levy and officially opened the Czech Republic's consulate in Ramallah
(which could become part of a Palestine state) during his five-day visit
from July 13-17. Kavan's planned meetings with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were cancelled because
of the summit at Camp David.
The Czech Republic has traditionally had good relations with the
region: it was the first former Soviet satellite to establish
a diplomatic mission and remains the only former satellite providing
foreign assistance (e.g., 3 million USD for installing electricity). The
former Czechoslovakia sold airplanes to Israel in 1948.
Lida Truneckova/Michael Bluhm
FROM SLOVAKIA
Former SIS Chief Lexa Hiding from Criminal Prosecution Abroad
Former Director of the Slovak Information Service (SIS, the
nation's civilian intelligence agency) Ivan Lexa is hiding in the
Caribbean to avoid criminal prosecution in Slovakia. Lexa has been
outside Slovakia since September, according to documents gained by
Markiza Television.
Lexa applied for citizenship on Grenada, pledged allegiance to the
English queen and submitted entrepreneurial capital of 200,000 USD. His
plans for doing business in travel fell apart when Grenada refused to
grant him citizenship.
An international warrant cannot be issued for Lexa because he still
benefits from official immunity as a legislator in the Slovak National
Assembly. Assembly Chairman Jozef Migas has initiated the calling of
a special session to strip Lexa of immunity. Blame for Lexa's flight has
been cast on the Interior Ministry and the Justice Ministry.
Slovak Telecommunications Sale Is Biggest Privatization Deal
The Slovak government July 12 agreed on the sale of 51 percent of
Slovak Telecommunications to Deutsche Telekom for 1 million euro, the
largest privatization yet in Slovakia. Deutsche Telekom, the largest
telecommunications provider in Europe, will invest 400 million euro of
that total back into Slovak Telecommunications, while the government has
said the remainder will be used for development projects, bailing out
the Postal Bank (Postovni banka) and for healthcare subsidies. Deutsche
Telekom will take over the company by the end of July.
This section was written by Andrea Slovakova/Michael Bluhm
ECONOMY
New Czech National Bank Act Limits Independence
The main goal of the Czech National Bank (CNB) should no longer be
currency, but rather price stability, according to amendments to the
Czech National Bank Act passed by the Chamber of Deputies July 14.
The changes also require the bank consult with the government on
bank inflation targets and currency policy. The bank's governor would be
proposed to the president by the government, whereas no the president
names the governor of his own choosing. The formerly secret salary of
the governor will now be equal to that of the prime minister (114,600
crowns per month), and the salaries of members of the Banking Council
would be equal to the salaries of ministers (75,100 crowns per month).
The bank's business and investment budgets would be approved by the
Chamber of Deputies, while the bank's regular budget would be under the
control of the Supreme Audit Office (Nejvyssi kontrolni urad).
The changes were supported by the Social Democrats (CSSD) and the
Civic Democrats (ODS), while the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the
Freedom Union (US) were against. The Communists (KSCM) abstained. The
amendments will be challenged in the Senate, with Finance Minister Pavel
Mertlik saying the changes go against the Constitution, which sets the
bank's main goal as currency stability. Lida Truneckova/Michael Bluhm
Report: Debts to Related Companies Sent IPB into Forced Administration
The Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB)
was placed under forced administration because of debts owed by
companies often owned by the bank or related to it, according to
a report issued by the Czech National Bank's oversight department.
The bank's biggest debtors are construction firm Vojenske stavby
and the firms owning TV Prima, which the bank controls, the related
firms Cetus and Nomura Capital and former bank shareholder Charouz
Holding. Half of IPB's 185-billion crown loan portfolio is bad, said
Josef Tauber, the vice chairman of the board of the Czechoslovak Trade
Bank (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, CSOB) who is now running IPB. CSOB
bought IPB in forced administration June 19 (see Carolina 381, 383) and
can transfer the bad loans to the state-owned Consolidation Bank.
Mirka Stipkova/Michael Bluhm
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid July 27)
----------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 35.660
country currency CZK
----------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.400
Great Britain 1 GBP 57.576
Denmark 1 DKK 4.784
Japan 100 JPY 34.772
Canada 1 CAD 25.827
IMF 1 XDR 50.113
Hungary 100 HUF 13.707
Norway 1 NOK 4.354
New Zealand 1 NZD 17.499
Poland 1 PLN 8.827
Greece 100 GRD 10.575
Slovakia 100 SKK 83.924
Slovenia 100 SIT 17.170
Sweden 1 SEK 4.245
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.978
USA 1 USD 37.898
Exchange Rates of countries paticipating in the euro (converted from the
euro rate)
Germany 1 DEM 18.233
Belgium 100 BEF 88.399
Finland 1 FIM 5.998
France 1 FRF 5.436
Ireland 1 IEP 45.279
Italy 1000 ITL 18.417
Luxemburg 100 LUF 88.399
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.182
Portugal 100 PTE 17.787
Austria 1 ATS 2.592
Spain 100 ESP 21.432
CULTURE
35th Karlovy Vary Film Festival Breaks Records
The 35th Karlovy Vary film Festival, which ran July 5-15 in the
western Bohemia spa town, set records for films screened, tickets sold
and registered guests. More than 140,000 tickets were sold for more than
260 films, while 9,000 film professionals, journalists and festivalgoers
were registered for the rainy and unseasonably cold 11 days at Europe's
second-oldest film festival. The competition section's main prize was
won by the Brazilian film Me, You, Them from director Andrucha
Waddington, who accepted the prize from Spanish director Carlos Saura,
also the recipient of a prize for lifetime achievement. The competition
jury was chaired by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, the creator of
The Taste of Cherries and The Wind Will Carry Us, the latter of which
had its Czech premiere at the festival.
Other films of note making their Czech premiere at the festival
included Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog, Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark,
Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, Alan Parker's Angela's Ashes (hich won
the viewers' award), Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's Angels of the Universe,
Chris Smith's American Movie, Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy and the Hughes
Brothers' American Pimp. Aside from the competition sections for feature
and documentary films, other sections focused on independent films,
films from the former Soviet Bloc, films from Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Variety magazine's critics' choice and award-winning films from other
recent festivals.
This year's festival featured neither a spontaneous poetry slam nor
Czech director Jiri Menzel (Closely Watched Trains, the 1968 Academy
Award-winner for best foreign-language film) physically assaulting
a festival official, as happened last year - perhaps the unremittingly
gloomy weather kept everyone's emotions in check - but the festival's
unofficial mascots, the countless domestic student backpackers, stayed
on, each night unfurling their sleeping bags on the concert stage next
to the festival center.
Foreign guests attending the festival included Woody Harrelson
(frequent festival guest and narrator of the marijuana documentary
Grass), Ed Norton (showing his film Keeping the Faith) and Alicia
Silverstone. Festival organizers say their main priority for next year
will be arranging for more theaters, while a proposal for a museum
dedicated to film and the festival, the second-oldest in Europe, started
gaining support. Michael Bluhm/Michael Bluhm
SPORTS
Government Promises Support for 2003 Hockey World Championships
Prime Minister Milos Zeman July 18 promised government support in
organizing the 2003 World Championships in hockey in Prague.
The government will name a special envoy (its third, with the first
two for human rights and the IMF-World Bank Prague summit in September)
to choose an investor for and manage the construction of the arena for
the championships. The state, which will not contribute financially to
the building of the stadium, will help with securing the land where the
stadium should be built. David Luksu/Michael Bluhm
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* The Czech women's junior basketball team won the silver medal at
the European Championships in Poland, losing to Russia in the final
51:64.
* The Czech under-18 soccer team lost the bronze-medal game to
Germany 1:3 at the European Championships in Germany after leading 1:0
at halftime.
* The Czech softball team was the only European team to advance to
the quarterfinals at the World Championships in South Africa. The Czech
team, also the reigning European champs, finished sixth.
David Luksu/Michael Bluhm
WEATHER
In a word, miserable. In other words, gloomy, cloudy, wet, one of
the coldest Julys on record and nothing like summer.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm
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