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 Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 201, Friday, May 3, 1996. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 24 - May 1) Political Parties' Sponsor Mystery In the past few days, the press has been closely watching the campaign finance statements of the active political parties and their "secret" sposors. The ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) does not identify its largest sponsors, who gave gifts of 3.75 million crowns apiece. The ODS annual report says the gifts came from Budapest and the island of Mauricius, the sponsors being Lajos Bacs and Radjiv M. Sinha, respectively. The press reported that Budapest records show Bacs died several years ago, and Sinha, who lives on Mauricius, has distanced himself from the financial support. ODS cannot quash suspicions that someone who wants to conceal his identity has given them the money. "I think that you have clearly noticed that that we have not concealed their names, because, had we wanted to conceal them, we could have noted them as anonymous sponsors," said ODS Chairman and Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. The Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) is having the same problems: ODA had listed TMC-Trade Management Company Ltd. from Vaduz, Lichtenstein as having given them a sponsorship gift of 3.3 million crowns. It was later shown that the money came from the Carribean's Virgin Islands. And the third governing coalition party is having such problems: The Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party listed the supplier of a 1.1-million-crown gift as Zurich bank Coutts & Company. Political parties are required by law to provide information about sponsors, should the financial gift exceed 100,000 crowns. However, should the party break the law, no punishment exists. Natasa Hajkova/Andrea Snyder Leftists Celebrate May Day Milos Zeman, chairman of the top opposition party, the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), and Richard Falbr, leader of the country's largest union organization, the Czech-Moravian Union Chamber (CMKOS), placed flowers on the memorial plaque on Prague's Shooter's Island (Strelecky ostrov). The plaque commemorates Prague's first official May Day celebration in 1890. They then left together, walking down National Avenue (Narodni trida) to a CSSD meeting concerning upcoming elections, held at the party headquarters near the Kmart department store. Even the election bus "Zemak," which Zeman uses to travel around the country, was present, not to mention posters and election platform brochures. Nearly 20,000 supporters of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) met for Prague's largest May Day celebration. For the first time since 1989, the communists celebrated on the Letna plain, where traditional mass May Day rallies and military parades took place in the past. At Letna, Milous Jakes, signing his new book Two Years as General Secretary (1987-89), approved of KSCM Chairman Miroslav Grebenicek's critical speech. Jakes was expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party after 1989's Velvet Revolution. KSCM is a parliament party with 10 seats and, according to them, 200,000 members, which is far more than claimed by any other party. The Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party places second with 80,000 members. Pre-election polls indicate KSCM has a good chance of being represented in the next Parliament. The Left Blok (LB) invited its followers to a musical performance of Dvorak and Vangelis at Krizik Fountain at Prague's Fairgrounds. The Left Blok, which splintered off from the KSCM in 1993, has the third strongest parliamentary club with 23 members, but has low party membership. Voter preference for the Left Blok is around 5 per cent. Television news showed the Brno KSCM meeting and the Party of Czechoslovak Communists meeting in Usti nad Labem, led by Chairman and pre-1989 high functionary Mirolav Stepan. His party was created last spring, and registered this year for the elections, but refused to put up the required collateral. (see story in Pre-Election Service). Four hundred anarchists marched from Shooter's Island to the center of Prague May 1 with the slogan Against Capitalism, For Freedom and Self-Rule. This year the march was without incident. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder PRE-ELECTION SERVICE (Czech Parliament elections will take place May 31-June 1) *** Voter Preference Grows for Opposition Social Democrats The opposition Czech Social Democratic Party has recently gained 5 per cent more voter support, acccording to research published by the Factum Agency in Czech daily MF DNES April 25.Support, on the other hand, fell away from the governing coalition's two minority parties - the Civic Democratic Alliance and the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party. Their loss pushed the quasi-fascist Republicans (Association for the Republic-Republican Party of Czechoslovakia) into third place, though their numerical voter preference did not rise. First place, however, still belongs to governing-coalition leader the Civic Democratic Party, with 27 per cent support, second are the Social Democrats with 20 per cent and the Republicans record 8.1 per cent, the Christian Democrats 6.8 per cent and the Civic Democratic Alliance 5.9 per cent (results of polls conducted by the Institute for Public Opinion Research and the Center for Empirical Research are in Carolina 200). Adam Kotalik/Petra Sevcikova Social Democratic Candidates Gain in Popularity Rankings The most popular politician in the Czech Republic remains Minister of Trade of Industry and Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) Vice-Chairman Vladimir Dlouhy, with 70 per cent of the public's support (71 per cent in March). Second place, with 64 per cent, was taken by Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec, who is Vice-Chairman of the ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) (65 per cent in March). Third place belongs for the first time to Vice-Chairwoman of the opposition Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) and Parliament deputy Petra Buzkova (60 per cent), according to April research done by the Center for Empirical Research (59 per cent in March). CSSD Chairman Milos Zeman minimally increased his popularity (to 55 per cent, from 54 per cent in March), though he moved into fourth place. In fifth place and down 4 per cent from march is ODA Chairman and Vice-Prime Minister Jan Kalvoda (55 per cent in April). The greatest loss was suffered by Jiri Dienstbier, now in sixth place, who served as foreign minister after November 1989 and is today co-Chairman of the Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party (from 61 in March to 55 per cent in April). Next on the charts: Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (ODS, 52 per cent, down 1 per cent); Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik (ODS), Agriculture Josef Lux (KDU-CSL chairman), both at 52 per cent and down 4 per cent. In 10th place is the Health Minister Jan Strasky (ODS, 46 per cent, down 1 per cent), 11th is Interior Minister Jan Ruml (ODS, 43 per cent, up 1 per cent), 12th place fell to 26-year-old CSSD Parliamentary Club Chairman Stanislav Gross (37 per cent), whose name was placed in the poll for the first time. The research was done among 1,443 citizens older than 18. Ondra Trunecka/Petra Sevcikova SD-LSNS Is Coalition, According to Central Election Commission The Central Election Commission (UVK) decided April 27 the Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party (SD-LSNS) will into elections as a coalition (with the Party of Entrepreneurs, Tradesman and Farmers of Rudolf Baranek). Of the commission's 36 members, 20 voted for coalition. SD-LSNS probably thus lost any real chance to get into Parliament, because they must get 7 per cent support as a coalition instead of the 5 per cent needed for parties. According to election polls showing to 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent support, success is not likely. UVK had decided April 11 that SD-LSNS is not a coalition. The change of opinion is based on the fact that information about the agreement between Baranek's party and SD-LSNS agreement appeared later. According to the agreement, Baranek's party was oblidged to pay more than 8 million crowns to be listed on SD-LSNS ballots. Czech daily MF DNES pointed out that intitial information about the agreement appeared April 11. SD-LSNS appealed the UVK decision and asked for the support of other parties' leaders to revoke this decision and discuss the issue again. The party is preparing a protest for the Supreme Court. Lucie Dvorakova/Katerina Zachovalova Small Parties without Election Collateral The obligatory election collateral of 200,000 crowns for each electoral district (eight in the Czech Republic) was fulfilled by 14 political parties in Bohemia and 16 in Moravia. Twenty parties are registered. The Green party, the Party of Czechoslovak Communists and the Nationwide Citizens' Union have not paid at all and the Right Blok only paid 5,500 crowns by the deadline. These parties may participate in the pre-election campaign but they will not have ballots printed. Information on the size of the paper and lettering is secret so the parties can not print these cards themselves. Petra Mrzena/Petra Sevcikova Social Democrat Deputy Rezac Shot 48-year-old Parliament deputy Vladimir Rezac was found April 29 in his Jablonec nad Nisou flat dead of a gunshot wound. He had figured in second place on the northern Moravian ballot of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD). According to the autopsy and police investigation, Rezac committed suicide. He had shot himself directly in the heart with a legally owned rifle - he was a hunter. The motive remains unknown. Rezac, an attorney by profession, had attended the last meeting of Parliament. The press cited his phenomenal ability to flawlessly recite laws by heart. He was respected in Parliament as a member of the Arms and Security Committee. Jaroslav Basta, a fellow party member, says that suicide is unlikely; CSSD Chairman Milos Zeman rejects any second-guessing. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder Reaction to Defeat of Border Amendment Parliament did not approve April 24 the constitutional amendment redrawing the border with Slovakia, although the day before the signed border treaty was approved (see Carolina 200). The change would not mean any complication for the countries' citizens, whose identification card will still suffice to cross the border. The amendment was not passed because it was not supported by opposition political parties. They pointed out that Czech citizens from the Moravian village U Sabotu, which would become part of Slovakia, did not agree with the bill. "The government gave preference to the border stones, not the poeple", declared Left blok Chairman Jaroslav Ortman. Chairman of the Foreign Committee of the Czech Parliament Jiri Payne (Civic Democratic Party) expressed fears that voting down the amendment will mean the loss of Czech prestige abroad. The next border debates will occur in the next Parliament. Natasa Hajkova/Jitka Hejtmanova Czech Students Abroad Will Get Public Support The right to public support (including transportation allowance) will also belong to Czech students of foreign secondary schools and universities. According to the amended state social support law, which Parliament approved April 25, these students will receive the same welfare payments as independent children. See Carolina 191, 193 and 194 for more information. Jitka Hejtmanova Severance Pay Only for Exiting Politicians Parliament deputies and ministers who filled their positions for four years and will not return to them after elections will receive at the end of their terms a severance pay worth five months' salary. They will receive it, however, three months after the termination of their positions. Three months is the period for the barring of parallel payment of salary and severance pay. The amendment was approved in Parliament April 26, correcting a mistake in the law which had allowed for a person to receive a salary (i.e., maintain his function) and severance pay at the same time. Officials whose position is established by the constitution, will receive much higher salaries this year. The only person to receive the same salary will be the president, at 112,400 crowns monthly. Members of Parliament will have an increase from 17,000 crowns to 31,000 crowns per month, while the prime minister, the heads of the Senate and Parliament will make 90,500 crowns per month, as opposed to the the 49,300 crowns they make now. Ministers' salaries will increase from 32,300 to 59,300 crowns per month. The average salary in the Czech Republic for 1995 was 8,200 crowns per month. Lucie Dvorakova/Andrea Snyder Small Shareholders Better Protected Parliament April 25 unanimously approved the amended commercial code, which should improve protection for small shareholders. The amended code gurantees minority shareholders the possibility to sell their stock in corporations for a guaranteed price once someone gains a 50 per cent share of the corporation. The majority owner will have to offer the buyout at the stock's average price in the previous six months. The amended code also includes changes in the area of responsibilities for larger shareholders, e.g., to inform the securities Registry upon reaching a 10-per-cent shareholding in a company. The amendments were presented by Tomas Jezek (a member of the ruling Civic Democratic Party), who was often criticized years ago as chairman of the National Property Fund, and now receives praise as the new head of the Prague Stock Exchange. Petr Mrzena/Petra Sevcikova Five Tons of Onions in Front of Agriculture Ministry On the morning of April 25, the space in front of the Ministry of Agriculture was filled by five tons of unmarketable onions. Farmers supported by Czech-Moravian Union of the Center (CMUS) were thusly protesting Parliament's ignoring the prepared agriculture law at its last session in the pre-election period. According to CMUS Vice-Chairman and Parliament deputy Jan Krycer, it was mainly a protest of growers from the Nymburk region, who were representing the interests of the entire fruit- and vegetable-growers' union. The union has big problems with selling onions; according to recent information, about 18,000 tons of onions are ready for compost. Czech farmers offer onions for about 4 crowns per kilo, but they have big competition - onions from Holland are sold at about 3 crowns per kilo, and Slovak onions go for 2 crowns per kilo. CMUS deputies Jan Jegla, Jaroslav Sykora, Josef Krizek negotiated with Deputy Minister of Agriculture Karel Burda April 25, and the ministry promised further negotiations about the farmer's problems, Sykora said. Lucie Dvorakova/Jitka Hejtmanova FROM SLOVAKIA Slovakia Has Best Estimates Slovakia's GDP is supposed to increase by 6 per cent this year, and is to have an inflation rate of 7 per cent, the lowest of the central and eastern European countries, as reported in Czech daily Pravo from the results of the estimates of six leading German insitutes. Poland should come in second in the GDP growth race, at 5.5 per cent, and the Czech Republic third with 4.5 per cent. The Czech Republic has an 8 per cent inflation rate. The Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment rate of central and eastern European countries, with 3.5 percent (the second-lowest in Europe after Luxemburg), while other countries in the region should have a rate of 10 to 14 per cent. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder Party of the Democratic Left Has New Boss As of April 27, Slovak Ambassador to the Ukraine Jozef Migas is chairman of the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL'). The press calls Migas's new appointment a compromise between the party's fractions. The inter-party conflict derives from the the issue of whether to join the governing coalition of Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. Peter Weiss, who had lead SDL' from its creation, announced last fall that he does not plan on running at the top of the party's ballot. At the recent SDL' meeting in Nitra, he was appointed chairman for foreign policy. SDL' supports Slovakia joining the EU and NATO with the condition that the citizens of the country will decide to join or not. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder ECONOMY Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from May 3) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 22.089 Belgium 100 BEF 88.226 Great Britain 1 GBP 41.597 Denmark 1 DKK 4.706 Finland 1 FIM 5.760 France 1 FRF 5.372 Ireland 1 IEP 43.149 Italy 1000 ITL 17.798 Japan 100 JPY 26.420 Canada 1 CAD 20.462 Luxemburg 100 LUF 88.226 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.222 Norway 1 NOK 4.223 New Zealand 1 NZD 19.114 Portugal 100 PTE 17.679 Austria 1 ATS 2.579 Greece 100 GRD 11.393 Slovakia 100 SKK 90.120 Germany 1 DEM 18.145 Spain 100 ESP 21.813 Sweden 1 SEK 4.074 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.310 USA 1 USD 27.800 ECU 1 XEU 34.104 SDR 1 XDR 40.189 CULTURE Bohumil Hrabal Cancels Contract Allowing Jiri Menzel to Film Novel Octogenarian writer Bohumil Hrabal signed a new contract on the use of his novel I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglickeho krale) with Fronda Film April 19. According to the new contract, the only person who can make a film based on the book is director Karel Kachyna, who has Fany and The Cow (Krava) among his credits. Hrabal also canceled his contract with Sirotek Studios and asked the company "to stop any kind of meetings leading to the filming of his novel." The film companies' argument lasted several months - since Hrabal signed contracts with both of them. The situation cleared up with the aforementioned legal action, but problems still exist, because Sirotek Studio representatives consider the cancelation unreasonable and not binding. Menzel, who would direct the film for Sirotek, has adapted a number of Hrabal's works for the screen, most notably Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledovane vlaky), which won the 1968 Foreign Film Oscar. Petr Mrzena/Katerina Zachovalova Miss Congenialty Exchanges Russian Car for Toyota Flourishes of applause in Pilsen (Plzen) sounded most often for 19-year-old model Zdenka Zdrazilova from Jindrichuv Hradec during this year's Miss Czech Republic contest (see Carolina 200.) Besides the title of second vice-miss, she was awarded the Miss Congeniality Prize in a landslide, and new Toyota Carina car together with the prize. Spectators also honored her with the Pilsen Audience Award. As she revealed in her short interview for Carolina, she became a model only from necessity, because she could not find work she would have enjoyed, after finishing high school. So she earned some money by modeling; this does not mean, though, that she does not like the job - on the contrary, she would like to dedicate it fully a year or two. She most often wears jeans and leather, two materials she could have on herself all the time, she said. She eats the traditional Czech pork, cabbage and dumplings, fast driving is among her favorite hobbies, which she will have a chance to experience more in her new Toyota than in the 30-year-old Muscovite (Moskvic) she received for graduation from her father. Race motorcycles impress her more than fast cars and she can not take her eyes off Milwaukee's Harley Davidsons. Adam Kotalik, David Sprincl/Klara Schirova SPORT Czechs Fight to Hockey World Championships Semifinal Czech hockey players continued their fabulous World Championships showing in Vienna, and masterfully won the B group, going undefeated and surrendering a point only to Norway (2:2). The Czech team calmly beat France 9:2 April 27, when success was led by the Kladno offense of Vejvoda-Patera-Prochazka with four goals. The following day the Czechs took care of the tenacious Italians 9:5. CR-Francie 9:2 (2:1,6:0,1:1) Vejvoda, Patera 2, Kaberle, Kucera, Reichel, Dopita, Kysela - Dube, Rozenthal. CR-Italie 9:5 (2:1,3:2,4:2) Reichel 2, Meluzin, Lang, Kysela, Kucera, Belohlav, Vyborny, Bonk - Bartolone 2, Topatigh, Chitarroni, Ramoser. After deadline: The Czech Republic beat Germany 6:1 (2:0, 1:0, 3:1) in the quarterfinal May 1. The Germans scored their first goal when the score was already 5:0. Scorers: Vyborny, Reichel, Dopita, Meluzin, Bonk, Neckar - Kuhnhauser. The Czech representatives will meet the US team in the May 3 semifinal, Russia and Canada are the second semifinal pair. Last year's finalists (Sweden and Finland) are out of the tournament. Adam Kotalik/Klara Schirova Soccer: Slavia Already Champion after 27 Rounds The poor performance of the Sparta team, which won only four games in the last 10 rounds of the Czech soccer league (2 draws, 4 defeats), led the Sparta management to offer free passes to all Sparta matches in Prague till the end of season. After that, not only the Sparta management, but also Sparta players tried to repair their tarnished image with fans. Sparta improved its performance and defeated Viktoria Zizkov and Union Cheb. In spite of its defeat in Drnovice (0-3), Slavia has ensured itself the league championship (its first since 1947) by the 27th round, due to the unexpected victory of last-place Uherske Hradiste over second-place Olomouc. Results of the 26th round: Hradec Kralove - Drnovice 1-0, Brno - Cheb 2-0, Slavia - Ostrava 2-0, Liberec - Uherske Hradiste 4-0, Olomouc - Ceske Budejovice 4-0, Zlin - Plzen 1-0, Opava - Jablonec 0-1, Zizkov - Sparta 1-4. Make-up from 22nd round: Slavia - Jablonec 2-1. Results of the 27th round: Drnovice - Slavia 3-0, Uherske Hradiste - Olomouc 2-1, Sparta - Cheb 3-0, Ostrava - Liberec 1-0, Hradec Kralove - Brno 1-0, Plzen - Opava 2-1, Jablonec - Zizkov 5-0, Ceske Budejovice - Zlin 2-0. Standings after 27 rounds (2 matches still unplayed): 1. Slavia 61; 2. Olomouc 52; 3. Jablonec 50; 4. Drnovice 48; 5. Sparta 46; 6. Opava 37; 7. Liberec 37 (-1); 8. Plzen 36 (-1); 9. Ceske Budejovice 35; 10. Boby Brno 34 (-1); 11. Ostrava 32 (-1); 12. Viktoria Zizkov 32; 13. Cheb 29; 14. Hradec Kralove 28; 15. Zlin 21; 16. Uherske Hradiste 16. David Sprincl/Milan Smid WEATHER After all the excesses and record vicissitudes, last week's weather finally corresponded to the calendar - April. Mornings were cooler (around 10 degrees Celsius/36 degrees Fahrenheit), and the temperature reached pleasant 20 degrees Celsius/54 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. The sun shone, the wind blew and it rained. All in moderation. Lida Truneckova/Klara Schirova English version edited by Michael Bluhm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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