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 218, Friday, October 11, 1996. FROM THE NEWS OF THE PAST WEEK (October 2-9) War of Words between Klaus and Zeman Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic Party) accused the Social Democrat Parliament Chairman Milos Zeman of trying to return the political situation to pre-November 1989 days. "At this moment the basis itself of the post-November transformation process is being called into doubt in a fundamental way. Mr. Zeman, together with the communist and Republicans, is doing it. We accepted our existence as a minority government, but the position of puppet government, which Mr. Zeman is trying to impose on us, we will not accept," the daily MF DNES quoted Klaus at the ODS press conference October 3. Klaus was reacting to two days of debate in Parliament, which requested the government to provide an anti-dumping law draft and a formal conception of its pro-export policy. Disagreement rules between the coalition and the opposition, for example, concerning hospital privatization, which the Social Democrats wish to halt. The opposition has 101 seats in Parliament, the coalition 99. Zeman responded to Klaus' claims by saying democracy in the Czech Republic is parliamentary, not executive. He rejected Klaus' charges and labeled them an insult to Parliament: "He who cannot manage to govern under control, cannot manage to govern well. Mr. Klaus will either have to learn democracy or it will be better if he engages himself in simpler activities," said Zeman in the October 3 edition of the daily Lidove noviny. President Vaclav Havel said in his weekly radio address it would not be good if a parliamentary dictatorship began to rule, but he does not fear for the fate of democracy. He called the verbal mudslinging unnecessarily sharp and as disturbing the public. Petra Kuskova, Roman Jedlicka/Milan Smid Coalition Declares Agreement Coalition parties chairmen Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic Party), Josef Lux (Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party) and Jan Kalvoda (Civic Democratic Alliance) demanded the opposition respect the government in an October 7 joint declaration. "Relations between the government and Parliament must be clean - for the success of the work of both the government and Parliament," said Lux in the October 8 edition of daily MF DNES. (After deadline) Vaclav Havel Celebrated His 60th Birthday President Vaclav Havel celebrated his 60th birthday (October 5) in the Prague Theater Archa October 6. The president received congratulations from hundreds of friends and acquaintancies from artistic and political circles, among them from Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Chairman of Parliament Milos Zeman. A performance was given to him as birthday present by pop singers Michael Kocab, Jaroslav Hutka, Marta Kubisova and Lucie Bila. Members of theater groups Na tahu, Jara Cimrman, Na Zabradli and Sklep presented short performances. At the party Havel recalled his recently deceased wife Olga, and he was accompanied by his dog Dula the whole evening. According to the daily MF DNES, Havel birthday's celebration took place also in Manhattan, where the party was attended by Czech emigre film director Milos Forman and actress Mia Farrow. Congratulations were sent by dozens heads of states in the course of the past week, among them from Russian President Boris Yeltsin, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl or British Queen Elizabeth II. Havel received also about 6,000 congratulatory letters. Havel was born into the family of enterpreneur Vaclav M. Havel and his wife Bozena Vavreckova. He was a leader of the opposition against the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, and at the same time became famous in the theater. Havel was elected president December 29, 1989, but resigned July 20, 1992, when he did not suceeded in preventing the split of the Czechoslovak federation. As head of the independent Czech Republic he was elected January 27, 1993. Havel enjoys a rather stable, high level of public support, and played an important mediating role during negotiations after this year's general elections. According to the last public opinion poll results, 82 per cent of Czech citizens have confidence in him. The Prague Academy of Music Arts awarded Havel an honourary doctorate September 4. David Simonik/Milan Smid Supreme Court Overrules Election Committee The Supreme Court has already processed complaints from at least 93 Senate candidates whose applications had been turned down by the Central Election Committee (UVK). As of September 25, the UVK had rejected 105 from about 600 ballots (see Carolina 217). The Supreme Court ruled in favor of most of the appeals, but at least 16 were denied. Kamila Mouckova, an independent on the Civic Democratic Alliace's (ODA) ballot, wrote that she was not a member of ODA instead of declaring that she was not a member of any political party or political movement. Her appeal was denied, as in the case of Jiri Grusa, the Czech ambassador to Germany. Both the UVK and the Supreme Court decided that he had not shown sufficient documents proving his Czech citizenship. The daily MF DNES quoted that Grusa had expected the Supreme Court would swat the UVK's decision down like an annoying fly. Most of the closely watched candidates, however, were accepted. Former Czech Prime Minister Petr Pithart, an independent on the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak Peoples' Party ballot, has made his return to the world of politics, as has former Minister of Health Ludek Rubas, who is running as an independent against the wishes of the ruling Civc Democratic Party, his former party. The ballot of union leader Richard Falbr was also accepted the second time around. He had labeled the UVK's rejection a political atttack. The last chance potential candidates have to appeal their rejected ballots is the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court, however, is not committed to give their decision by October 16, which is the registration date for candidates. Although a source at the offices of the Constitutional Court told the daily Svobodne slovo that no appeals had been submitted yet, Jiri Grusa, Kamila Mouckova and others say that they will. Michal Schindler/Andrea Snyder ODS Popularity Down The Center of Empirical Research's September list of most-loved politicians, in comparison with May's results: Vladimir Dlouhy of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) heads the list once again, his popularity increasing from 72 per cent to 74 per cent. Josef Zieleniec of the ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) holds second place and opposition Social Democrat Petra Buzkova of CSSD takes a solid third. Zieleniec has increased his voter popularity from 65 per cent to 69 per cent, and Buzkova is up 3 per cent from 58 per cent. All party leaders, however, have fallen by 2 per cent. Social Democrat Chairman Milos Zeman is down from 58 per cent to 56 per cent, ODA Chairman Jan Kalvoda from 57 to 55 per cent, and Josef Lux of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party has also dropped from 54 per cent to 52 per cent approval. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus takes seventh place with a mere 50 per cent of the 1,500 people polled, which is the lowest in his political career. Neo-Fascist Republican leader Miroslav Sladek dropped from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. The pre-election poll showed a general drop in ODS popularity. Interior Minister Jan Ruml lost 13 per cent, Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik dropped by 7 per cent, and the daily MF DNES warned that the poll had been done before the banking sector troubles arose. Simona Markova/Andrea Snyder Parliamentary Committee to Investigate Poldi Privatization Parliament selected a committee to investigate Poldi Kladno's privatization, along with the steel mill's economic conditions. Like the committee created to investigate the Kreditni Banka Pilsen crash (see Carolina 217), this committee has 12 members; four from both the Social Democrats and the Civic Democratic Party, and one from each of the other Parliament parties - the Communists, the Peoples' party, the Republicans and the Civic Democratic Alliance. Petr Mrzena/Andrea Snyder Two More Charged in Kreditni Banka Crash Two additional people were charged with fraud in the Kreditni banka Pilsen case October 8. The state prosecutor proposed to the Constitutional Court in Plzen that the accused be held in prison. The steps were taken four days after the first five investigated in the bank crash were released from prison. Among the five are bank General Director Jan Peterka, his Deputy Milan Nenadal, bank employee Elemir Vaclavik, Motoinvest representative David Knop-Kostka and Plzen Bank Director Jan Roucka. They had been in prison since the middle of September. Motoinvest Director Jan Dienstl was charged at the same time, but was not jailed. Petr Mrzena/Andrea Snyder FOREIGN AFFAIRS Princess Sayako Visits Czech Republic on Havel's Invitation Princess Sayako, the youngest daughter of the Japanese Emperor, was in the Czech Republic on a five-day private visit starting October 3. She was welcomed at the airport by Vera Caslavska, who is well-known in Japan from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where she carried away three golds and one silver in gymnastics. The Princess met Livia Klaus, the prime minister's wife, with President Vaclav Havel, to whom she conveyed birthday greetings from her family. She visited Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) and the SOS children's village. Libuse Kolouchova/Andrea Snyder Defense Minister in Bonn Czech Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny (Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party) met with German Defense Minister Volker Ruhe in Bonn October 7. They discussed NATO expansion, European security, Czech-German military cooperation, IFOR units in Bosnia and the Partnership for Peace. Petr Mrzena/Andrea Snyder FROM SLOVAKIA Meeting Of Czech And Slovak Defense Ministers Falls Through Czech Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny visited the Slovak city of Trencin October 5, where he was supposed to meet his Slovak opposite, Jan Sitek. Sitek, however, took ill at the last moment and cancelled the meeting. In Trencin, Vyborny looked through the Idee 96 arms trade fair. Petr Mrzena/Denisa Vitkova Slovak Actors Stop Striking Slovak National Theater actors called off the strike they began two days before, on October 2, and returned to the stage. The return happened after theater General Director Miroslav Fischer met their demands and re-appointed Peter Mikulik principal of the Slovak National Theater, despite Mikulik's earlier dismissal by Culture Minister Ivan Hudec. However, the old-new drama director will stay in office only until September 1, 1997. By then, as per the actors' request, the Culture Ministry has to hold a public search for a new drama theater director. The next demand Fischer had to comply with, in order to return the striking actors to the theater, is appointing their representatives onto the search commission. The actors also ask for Hudec's official explanation of the reasons for Mikulik's firing. They also want Hudec to stop the smear campaign directed at fired theater director Dusan Jamrich (see Carolina 217) and to take back accusations of financial discrepancies in the theater. According to daily Lidove noviny, Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar menaced the striking actors with firing at an October 3 meeting of the ruling Movement for Democratic Slovakia. Lidove noviny quoted Meciar as saying, "even in theaters that are indicated as provincial, there are many artists who have something to say to spectators and are mature personalities. Therefore I think it is necessary to open the National Theater to them as well." However, the present interruption of the strike does not have to be definitive, because its end depends on Culture Minister Hudec's decision whether to approve general director Fischer's steps. If Hudec rejects them, the actors will probably stop playing again. Marketa Kropackova/Denisa Vitkova ECONOMY Becherovka Loses Trademark Case Jan Becher-Karlovarska Becherovka company, the producer of the world-renowned herb liquer, was defeated by German Underberg company production in a trademark case October 4. Becherovka Director Vaclav Lupinek confirmed the result to the press and added his company has appealed to the German Supreme Court. The Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) producer and Underberger have similar cases in another 20 countries. The German company had bought the rights and Becherovka recipe from the last living member of the Becher family - Eda Becher, the German woman expelled after the Second World War from the now-Czech Sudetenland. In 1985 the companies agreed on Underberg's right to distribute the liquer in Germany without the possibility to produce it. Underberg withdrew from the contract in 1994, possibly because of fear of Becherovka's privatization. The loss of German trade lowered Becherovka's exports by more than 40 per cent. "We sold around a million liters of Becherovka liquer to Germany in 1994, now there is zero export to this territory," said Lupinek to the daily Pravo. The German producer sees the only way to solve this problem in a merger and is prepared to concentrate all production in the Czech Republic. The privatization of Becherovka (94 per cent of the company is still owned by the National Property Fund) has drawn out over several years and is now being dealt with by the Ministry of Finance, which has not provided any specific proposals. David Vlk/Katerina Zachovalova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from October 11) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.391 Belgium 100 BEF 86.056 Great Britain 1 GBP 42.415 Denmark 1 DKK 4.627 Finland 1 FIM 5.932 France 1 FRF 5.244 Ireland 1 IEP 43.460 Italy 1000 ITL 17.786 Japan 100 JPY 24.349 Canada 1 CAD 20.116 Luxemburg 100 LUF 86.056 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.798 Norway 1 NOK 4.165 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.782 Portugal 100 PTE 17.532 Austria 1 ATS 2.521 Greece 100 GRD 11.270 Slovakia 100 SKK 87.081 Germany 1 DEM 17.720 Spain 100 ESP 21.060 Sweden 1 SEK 4.110 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.671 USA 1 USD 27.137 ECU 1 XEU 33.912 SDR 1 XDR 39.049 CULTURE Kolya Successful in Land of Rising Sun The Czech film Kolya, made by the Sverak father-son duo, was awarded the main prize at the 9th International Film Festival in Tokyo October 6. The father and the film's star, Zdenek Sverak, also won the prize for best screenplay. "We are enthused that our film touched the hearts of Japanese people," said director Jan Sverak in the daily Pravo October 7. But Kolya has not yet finished its festival pilgrimage - together with two other films, Kolya will compete for this year's Felix, the award given to the European film of the year by the European Film Academy. Karolina Cebrovska/Zuzana Kawaciukova New Czech Movie Whisper Comes to Cinemas Under the distribution slogan "On the wings of adrenaline, love and imagination" was the new Czech movie Whisper (Septej) released in theaters outside Prague October 2. Prague had to wait one week to see the story of a female student deserting her military high school, a story marking the debut of director David Ondricek. Despite the filmmakers' denial of drawing any inspiration from the worldwide wave of films called the third drug generation, Ondricek's debut will not escape comparison with the British cult hit Trainspotting, the trend's most well known representative. The screenplay, under which are also signed the film's protagonist, Jan P. Muchow, and Jan Novak, the Chicagoan and co-author of Czech emigre director Milos Forman's film Valmont, was begun in 1993. The main roles, except for National Theater actors Martin Mysicka and Tatiana Vilhemova (known from Sasa Gedeon's Indian Summer), are played by non-actors. The central group of characters is filled out by Jan Cechticky, together with Muchow the leaders of the band Colorfactory, which colors the film with its moody music. The 5-million-crown budget of Whisper was partly financed by producer Petr Oukropec's company and the Short Film company. Czech Television, which bought the film's broadcast rights, contibuted as well. The movie will be offered abroad by a French distributor. Matej Cerny/Zuzana Kawaciukova Conflict in Czech Philharmonic Even eight months after Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Chief Conductor Gerd Albrecht left office, disagreement still predominates in the ensenble. The orchestra's seventh managing director, Jiri Kovar, tried to make the situation clear at an October 4 press conference in the concert hall of Prague's Rudolfinum. Some philharmonic members have asked for Kovar's removal, because of his canceling a contract with the Japanese music agency Musica for their regular tour in Japan. Kovar explained this by saying the agency lacks finances and there are other better known agencies interested in the philharmonic. Although conductor Vladimir Valek (also the head of the Radio Philharmonic) is leading the orchestra today, the position of chief conductor is still free. That is connected with another conflict, as some philharmonic members have negotiated this free post with Czech-born American conductor Zdenek Macal (who should have led the orchestra in Japan) even though it is not their prerogative to do so. Kovar also announced at the press conference that he was canceling participation at the prestigious Toshiba festival, which selected the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from a group of five. He was forced to take this step because of the disagreements obstructing the professional work of the orchestra. Ondrej Slavik/Magda Vanova SPORT Soccer: Sparta's First Victory This Season Slavia Praha, the champion of last year's Czech soccer league, tied Boby Brno, which sits atop this year's standings, in spite of a record Brno crowd of 45,000. After its first victory, Sparta Praha is not in last place anymore. Eighth round of the first Czech soccer league (October 2-4): Boby Brno-Slavia Praha 1:1, Sparta Praha-Hradec Kralove 1:0, Liberec-Jablonec 1:0, Plzen-Bohemians 0:1, Karvina-Opava 1:1, Teplice-Zizkov 1:0, Drnovice-Ostrava 5:2, Olomouc-Budejovice 1:1. Honza Mazak/Jan Majer 1998 World Championship Qualification: Czechs Tie Spain 0:0 Twenty thousand fans attended October 9's soccer qualifying match for the 1998 World Championship. Although world-famous Czech attacker Karel Poborsky took part in the match, the Czech team tied Spain 0:0. Such a result is not a failure nor success for Czech players and their fans. The qualification is just beginning and they all look forward to their next matches. Honza Mazak/Jan Majer Jaroslav Hules Scores Again Jaroslav Hules, the only Czech participant in motorcycling's World Championship, finished in 15th place in the Brazil Grand Prix and got another point. After the race Hules complained of the poor tuning of his motorcycle. Before the last race of the Czech rider's first season in the Grand Prix series, he is in a satisfactory 23rd place. Honza Mazak/Jan Majer WEATHER During the last week the sun probably took a look at the calendar, so temperatures were at least able to rise a few degrees. Umbrellas and warm coats, so much used in our cold September, remained hanging at home during the first week of October. But we can't hope it will last long - after all, night temperatures are about 6 degrees Celsius/43 degrees Fahrenheit. Patr Mrzena/Jan Majer ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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@cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz The text of message for subscription of the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send the following message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. 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