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 25, Friday, May 1, 1992. The events of the last week (from April 22-29) The Parliament Accepted the Treaty with Germany The Federal Parliament has ratified the Czechoslovak-German friendship treaty which was approved by President Havel in February. Foreign Minister Jiri Dienstbier said the clause referring to the "expelling of Germans" has a generally moral character and shouldn't be understood only as referring to the transfer of Germans from the country after WWII. He also said the treaty won't solve the problems of the past, but would determine future relationships between the two countries. The document recognizes Czechoslovak continuity as a nation from 1918. Left wing MP's, during nine hours of debate, opposed such terms as "Nullification" of the Munich agreement as well as the "expelling" clause. The ruling coalition however, claimed there is no danger of giving back the property that was conficated from Sudeten Germans after the war. Vaclav Havel in Japan Czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel visited Japan last week. The state visit was opened by discussions between Vaclav Havel and empiror Akihita on April 23. President Havel met with Japanese Prime Minister Miyzawa as well and informed him about Czechoslovak economical reforms. Vaclav Havel mentioned Czechoslovakia was interested in negotiating cultural exchanges with Japan. Such exchanges would greatly help CSFR universities and theaters. Starting in May, there will be special customs and tariff rates between the two countries. There will also be increased cooperation in joint investment strategies for Vietnam and the CIS. Japan has pledged to support marketing and managerial training for Czechoslovaks. An agreement on air-routes between Prague and Tokyo is expected. Japan has pledged to provide scrubbing technology credits for high-sulphur energy plants in Presov and Kosice. The President in Korea From Tokyo, the President flew to Seoul, South Korea. He was the first Czechoslovak President to do so. In meetings with Roe Tae Woo, the Presidents announced the beginning of a new relationship for the countries. The CSFR is interested in economic cooperation, raising Korea investments and mutual trade. CSFR hopes to export electronic and sanitary materials. Voucher Privatization The first turn of voucher privatization is over. April 26 was the deadline for citizens to give their coupons to privatization investing funds. The second run of voucher privatization, in which citizens can invest their coupons directly with enterprises, is going to start on May, 18. Candidates for the President Richard Sacher, an MP and ex-Minister of the Interior, and Miroslav Vacek, the ex-Minister of Defence announced they would be candidates for the presidency. Unofficially, there four candidates for president: V. Havel, A. Dubcek {Chairman of the Parliament}, R. Sacher and M. Vacek. At the Faculty of Social Science... Egon Lansky, a founding member of the Democrats 92 party, spoke with students at the Charles University. Exiled in Sweden until 1989, he has been a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry and is now a special ambassador to the Council of Europe. His party aims at supporting the president and maintaining a common state. Responding to students questions on the wisdom of adding yet another party to the already crowded field for the June elections, Lansky replied that there are still many undecided voters and "their absence from the elections would be a big loss to democracy". He doesn't think this additional party will dilute the support of other democratic representatives or end up with a Poland like splintering of government. (Parties must obtain a minimum of 5% of the vote to gain seats in the parliament.) The 1992 Election Carolina will present descriptions of the most popular parties and political movements in the next five issues before the elections. We start with the two parties which opinion polls show to be strongest in Czech and Slovakia. Civic Democratic Party (ODS) The ODS consistently polls about 20% of the vote. Since February, it has had some activities in Slovakia, but its strength lies within Czech. The Party leader, Vaclav Klaus, is currently the Federal Finance Minister and is considered to be the strongest force behind economic reforms. ODS was founded after the break-up of the Civic Forum and currently controls 50 seats in the federal parliament and 40 in the Czech parliament. Its platform is based on present and future economic reforms based on market forces and private enterprise. Its main foreign policy objective is rapid integration into the western world. It supports public health insurance and minimal social intervention programs. Environmental issues are also part of the election campaign. ODS has joined in a coalition with the Christian Democrats in the Czech republic and the Democratic Party of Slovakia, but it refuses to join with the HZDS due to differences of view on the federation. The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) The party most strongly opposed to the radical economic reforms of the ODS and Minister Klaus, HZDS now has 35% support among Slovak voters. Headed by former Interior Minister and current Slovak Prime Minister, Vladimir Meciar, the HZDS is less than enthusiastic about continued Czech-Slovak federation. Meciar is officially, "undecided", on the issue, but his party often sides with left-wing and nationalist faction in the parliament, and in the past he was a harsh critic of federation. Like the ODS, the HZDS emerged from the fragments of Public Against Violence. Its policies promote the slowing down of economic reform and lightening the burden on Slovakia through increased social spending there. It has tried in the past to reduce the power of federal bodies in favor of the states. Cultural service Dadaism? Da, da! Dada-opera with two dad-part "Spasm of Youth" was introduced in studio Labyrint. It was an atractive show using montage of verses. Vlasta Gallerova, literary manager and Karel Kriz, director componed the evening form the verses by T. Tzara, H. Arp, Ch. Morgenster, F. Picabia, I. Wernish and other pre-dadaists, dadaists and postdadaists. "We are not dadists! We don't want to brush up dadaism and copy it. We attend to make theatre attraction and mediate our fascination with dadaism", said both of them. The first-runs took place on April 10,17,25. Rock Cafe Rock club "Rock cafe" is located in the centre of Prague, on National street. The "New horizont" company rented rooms from the state enterprise Komenium. The Rock Club was opened on January 11, 1991. The Club provides a venue for concerts and so called, "Rock Parties" sponsored by local radio stations. Performers from abroad as well as local talents are showcased there. The Rock Club also produces recordings of live concerts and sells other records and second hand musical instruments. The Ice Hockey World Championships Hoping to repeat their medal performances of 1947, 72 and 85, Czechoslovakia is again playing host to the best hockey teams of the world in Prague and Bratislava. Teams from the USA, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and Italy comprise group A, and Canada, France, Switzerland, Russia, Norway and Czechoslovakia make up group B. After a series of playoffs, the eight best will go on to the semi-finals. 410 journalists, 122 photographers, 186 TV and Radio technicians from 19 countries are covering the action. In the first match, Czechoslovakia trounced Norway 6-1. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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