CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA School of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 C.S.F.R. e-mail address: CAROLINA@CSEARN.BITNET *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 22, Friday, April 10, 1992. THE EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK (from April 01-08) Treaty with Russia signed On Wednesday, April 1, President Vaclav Havel and Boris Yeltsin signed the Treaty of friendship and mutual cooperation between CSFR and Russia. Both Presidents appreciated their meeting. The signing opens the way to normal relations between two equal subjects. Boris Yeltsin gave Vaclav Havel documents concerning 1968. President Havel offered these documents to a Government comission of specialists for analysis of the period 1967-1970. It is expected the new documents will help to provide information on the events of that period. Before his leaving Mr. Havel met Mikhail Gorbatchev for a short chat. On Friday, Vaclav Havel phoned to George Bush to inform him about his visit to Russia. Visit to Korea announced On his way back from Japan President Havel is going to visit Korea.The visit will last from April 26 to April 28. Lists of candidates finished The Central Election Comittee registered 42 political parties for June elections. During last elections, there were only 22 parties. It is possible that the number will change until April 16. Till this date the Comittee will control all the lists of candidates. Balance needed between government and parliament At a meeting with law students last week the Deputy Chairman of the federal government, Pavel Rychetsky, spoke on problems of building a new law system. He said the biggest challenge to building an effective system lies between the Federal Government and the Federal Assembly. This may be solved by the upcoming June elections. He spoke of the systems of checks and balances in most federal structures in the world. In the former regime it was possible for the government to dominate the parliament. Mr. Rychetsky said the present parliament is taking advantage of imperfections of the former constitution. In the parliament, there is a dominating mesianistic psychology which is unhealthy. The deputies are attempting to limit the power of the courts and executive. He cited the Lustrace Law as an example of this. Mr. Rycetsky also talked about a law concerning former communists. Its provisions which punish people for actions which were not at the time illegal, are in violation of Act 23, 1991, the "List of Human Rights". President Havel in Bulgaria The treaty of cooperation and friendship was signed in Sophia by Mr. Havel and Bulgarian President Mr. Zelev. The former treaty of 1968 is invalid. Bulgaria owes Czechoslovakia about 343,000,000 rubles. It should have been payed by last November. For Bulgaria it is unreal to pay its debts in a short time and maybe also in a long time. That is why our Minister of Finance talked in Sophia with his Bulgarian colleague Ivan Kostov about the Bulgarian offer that Czechoslovak enterprises could take part in privatizaton in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is going to give Czechoslovakia documents about the invasion in 1968 Strike emergency on the rail In response to a new payment system for Czech railway workers anounced by the director of Czechoslovak Railways on April 1, the Trade Union announced a strike emergency. There is also a dispute about an unsigned contract for 1992. Since the strike emergency is still in effect, commuters are left to wonder whether an actual strike will happen. Will the way lead to a fire ? In a new twist to a continuing story, two men have joined the longstanding hunger strike of Miroslav Marecek. Richard Zatka, from Cernilov, and Jiri Jiricek, from Blansko, began their hunger strikes at Wenceslas Square in downtown Prague. If their demands are not met by May 5, they threaten to burn themselves to death. Their demands are: 1. To recall all the communists from high positions and to forbid them to get there again for ten years. 2. To resume the trial against Bilak, Jakes and Lenart for abusing their authority before 1989. 3. To inform the public who is responsible for the intervention in November 1989. 4. To expose the origin of present property of former communist leaders. Both men would welcome a meeting with deputies of Parliament. CULTURAL SERVICE Theatre in the hands of youngsters A new dramatic production, "Vojcev", is raising eyebrows as well as interest at the art-center Labyrint. Directed by stage managing student, Petr Lebl, 26, the play is described as an "all colors schizophrenia" by critics. Another student, Egon Tobias, was the scriptwriter. Young people are drawn to the play which features scenes of the author changing to a dog and dead people talking. The play is dedicated to the novelist Kurt Vonnegut, and the lead role is played by M. Taborsky. At the premier last month, Leble said, "If there are no spectators at our performances, it will mean I didn't do my work well. I chose a bad theme and made a mistake. Now I am in the hands of the actors, and the actors are in the hands of the spectators. We are all in someone's hands." The shocking but true performance is now the most popular performance at Labyrint. Radio Luxembourg in Prague The first of the month marked the appearance of the tenth private radio station in Prague. Radio Tele Luxembourg began broadcasting here, making Czechoslovakia the eighth eropean country for the station and the first in Eastern Europe. WEATHER It was cloudy with showers during last week. Average temperatures about 8/12 degrees above zero. More sunshine is expected for the next week. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. To subscribe Carolina please send the e-mail message with subject "Carolina/Eng: Subscription" for the english version (and "Carolina/Cs: Subscription" for the czech version) on our e-mail address above. To drop sending you replace the word Subscription" by "Unsubscription". The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated.