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 STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC School of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic fax: (+422) 231 7391 e-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 60, Thursday, January 29, 1993. FROM LAST WEEK'S EVENTS (January 20 - 27) Vaclav Havel Elected First Czech President On Tuesday, January 26, at the second session of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic, the joint candidate of the governmental coalition, V. Havel, was elected first president of the renewed Czech state. He received the required fifty-plus percent majority already in the first round of the secret ballot, when 109 deputies cast their votes for him. This was 8 votes over the required minimum; the House has 200 members. The Left Bloc candidate Marie Stiborova received 49 votes (LB has 35 deputies in the House), and the Republican candidate Miroslav Sladek got 14 votes (the Club "Association for the Republic / Republican Party of Czechoslovakia" has 11 members in the House). 10 deputies abstained, 12 did not vote and 6 spoiled their ballots. Immediately after the announcement of the results, Vaclav Havel arrived in the Parliament building. "I am ready to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution without reservations, and to live up to it in my office," he told the deputies. At the evening press conference he declared that he wants to watch over the political stability in the country. "I would like to be an inconspicuous guardian of the political culture in our country, of the culture of public life, I would like to do my best for the good name of the Czech Republic abroad," said the President. He will establish friendly relations with all states, and "above all, with the state closest to us, with the Slovak Republic." The President is to be sworn in on February 2, in the Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle. The original date was changed so that the Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus could attend the ceremony; he is to be abroad on February 1. It was the third election of Vaclav Havel to the post of the head of a state, this time for a period of five years; as a President, he cannot be recalled during that time. The parliamentary debate was broadcast live from 2:45 p.m. both by television and by radio. Its shameful course, an almost three-hour marathon of personal invectives and rude insults hurled by Republican deputies at V. Havel, was shocking. One viewer was so disgusted that he could not resist announcing by telephone that there was a semtex (plastic explosive) charge located in one of the TV cameras. This caused an interruption of the debate on technical grounds. After this was announced, the author of the anonymous telephone information confessed. There was another incident, this time between M. Sladek and a journalist who followed, with a camera, the presidential candidate to the toilet. The chair of the Mandate and Disciplinary Committee of the House, A. Roschova (ODS - Civic Democratic Party), intends to move for initiating a disciplinary procedure against some deputies of SPR-RSC (the Republicans). However, according to the Constitution, a deputy cannot be prosecuted for utterances made in the House. A deputy is subjected solely to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the House. How Did They Respond To V. Havel's Election? Vaclav Klaus, Czech Premier and the chair of the Civic Democratic Party: It is good that there will be some division of responsibility. The election will contribute to the stabilization of the political situation. Milan Uhde, Speaker of the House, member of ODS: It is a mature and good decision made at the right time. Josef Lux, Deputy Premier, Minister of Agriculture and Chair of the Christian Democratic Union / Czechoslovak People's Party: The election result did not surprise me, I think that the Republicans elected Havel. Petra Buzkova, deputy fot the Czechoslovak Social Democrats: A considerable number of the colleagues from our club voted for V. Havel, and, if I am not mistaken, so did many other opposition deputies. It is then obvious that the coalition vote was not united. Jaroslav Ortman, Chair of the Left Bloc Parliamentary Club: It was a recognition of the prestige of Marie Stiborova that she received votes from outside of the Left Bloc. The election of V. Havel was fully democratic. I am convinced that the newly elected President will exercise his office for the benefit of the Czech Republic. This was Carolina's selection of the voices of Czech politicians from the pages of the Czech press. From The Biography Of Vaclav Havel He was born on October 5, 1936, in Prague, as a son of a construction engineer and businessman. On account of his origin, V. Havel was not admitted to regular education. During the years 1950-55 he worked as a chemical laboratory technician and finished evening high school; then he took up Economics at the Czech Technical University. In the early Sixties, he worked as a stage technician in the ABC Theater, and later as an assistant director and dramaturgist in the Theater on the Balustrade. His plays The Garden Party (1963), Memorandum (1965), The Increased Difficulty of Concentration (1968) were performed there. He published in magazines Kveten (May), Divadlo (Theater), Literarni noviny (Literary Paper), and Shape. In August 1968, he was the main author of the Ten Points as a protest at the highest places against the development of the situation in Czechoslovakia. In 1975, he turns to President G. Husak with a letter analyzing the situation. Two years later, he becomes one of the three spokespeople of Charter 77. In 1978, he is a joint founder of the Committee for the Defense of Unjustly Prosecuted. In 1979, he was arrested and sentenced to 4 1/2 years of imprisonment for the so-called subversion of the Republic, in March 1983 he was released on grounds of poor health. In 1987-89 he was a member of the editorial board of the Samizdat People's Paper. His literary creativity continues: Largo Desolato (1984), Temptation (1985), Sanitation (1987); his essays Towards Human Identity were published in 1984 in London. After November 17, 1989, he headed the Civic Forum, and negotiated with the representatives of the powers-that-be. On December 29, 1989, he was elected President of Czechoslovakia. On July 5, 1990, he was re-elected. On July 20, 1992, he resigned immediately following the declaration of sovereignty of the Slovak Republic, admitting that he could not stop the disintegration of Czechoslovakia. In Front Of The Parliament During the election, a crowd gathered in front of the Parliament Building. They carried Czech flags, and mostly expressed their support for Vaclav Havel. A small group of Republicans also appeared, trying to support Miroslav Sladek; the former group responded negatively. No one anticipated to wait in front of the Parliament for the whole afternoon. They received information straight from the building as well as from the radio. Only after eight in the evening they got what they had waited for, the results of the elections. Most of them stayed around until the newly elected President arrived, to express their support and affection for him, but also delight over the fact that "the Sladek's gang left empty-handed," as several citizens told our reporter. Who For Slovak President: Roman Kovac Or Milan Ftacnik? At the same time when the Czech Parliament held elections, so did the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Not one of the four candidates received the required three-fifth majority (90 votes out of the total 150) during the first round of the secret ballot, on Tuesday, January 26. The largest number of votes (69) was cast for Roman Kovac, the candidate for the governmental Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). Apparently, not all HZDS deputies voted for him since there are 74 of them. In the second round, it is a contest between him and the candidate for the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), Milan Ftacnik, who received 30 votes. The SDL club has 28 members. The candidate for the Christian Democratic Movement, Anton Neuwirth, received 27 votes, while Slovak National Party's Jozef Prokes got just 17 votes. Altogether, 147 deputies were present, 2 abstained and 2 ballots were spoiled. Round 2 of the secret ballot is on the agenda of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Wednesday, January 27. Separation Of Currency One of the hot topics of these days is the date of the separation of the common currency. It is already clear that it will take place much sooner than originally expected. Speculations appear in the press, and so do first guesses at the date. The Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus declared that the exchange of money for stamped notes will certainly not be executed this week. According to Wednesday issue of Mlada Fronta Dnes (Youth Front Today), he added that he is to leave for Davos on Thursday for 4 1/2 days, and that he would never miss an event such as currency separation. However, according to information from the Ministry of Finance, materials are ready to regulate the separation mechanism and jurisdictions of the respective components of the state administration and other institutions during its course. This document should be co-signed by the Deputy Premiers and the Premier. They will be authorized to do so by a Parliament through a law which would delegate certain jurisdictions to the government. Military Service At Most Year And A Half According to a Ministry of Defense worker, J. Panocha, conscriptees who started their military service in October 1992 will be discharged at the latest after 18 months. He also stated that information about the reduction of military service to 12 months, which would affect soldiers serving at the earliest since last October, is merely for orientation. The proposal to reduce military service to 12 months was, according to J. Panocha, presented only to ministers for comments, and until the government and the parliament approves it, the present law determines the terms of service. SPORTS Hockey League Hockey League, which is still federal, has seen 34 rounds. The ranking at the top is unchanged - Litvinov leads (45 pts.), followed by Ceske Budejovice (42 pts.), Sparta Praha (41 pts.) and Kladno (39 pts.). The next-to-the-last (thirteenth) team, Pardubice, managed to pull up to the number twelve Slovvan Bratislava by winning 2:1 at home and 5:2 on Bratislava ice. Now the teams have 27 points each, and the last, Plzen, lags behind by three points. Great Pardubice Steeplechase Made Safer? The City Council of Pardubice decided to lease Pardubice race course to Pardubice Race Company for seven years. The course is the scene of the second most prestigious annual horse race in Europe - The Great Pardubice Steeplechase - and it was, especially during the last year's races, a target of criticism and protests both from our and foreign public, mostly from the environmentalists. The protests pointed at the lack of safety of some obstacles. Allegedly, taking measures to make the race acceptable to European public was a condition of the lease. EXCHANGE RATE OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK CROWN purchase sale FRG 1 DEM 17.66 18.58 USA 1 USD 27.87 29,27 UK 1 GBP 42.42 45.56 AUT 1 ATS 2.52 2.64 FRA 1 FRF 5.20 5.52 The rates are as of January 27. WEATHER January weather caught us off guard with a novelty - strong wind gusts. It has caused a lot of damage, but instead of snow it brought just rain. Downhill courses are closed down, temperatures range between 1 and 8 degrees Celsius. Diffusion conditions are good, thanks to intense air currents. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, snow blanket finally descended on Prague. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them please to the address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs To subscribe to CAROLINA you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET. The text of the message is: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name for the English version or SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name for the Czech version. To delete your subscription from the list you send the following message to LISTSERV: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS