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: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 273, Friday, January 23, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 14 - 21) Vaclav Havel Elected for Second Term as Czech President January 20 At their first ever joint session, the two houses of the Czech Parliament re-elected President Vaclav Havel for a second five-year term. In the first round of voting, he came up of an overall majority in both Houses, despite coming in way ahead of the other two candidates, Communist Stanislav Fischer and neo-Fascist Republican Chairman Miroslav Sladek. Neither of the other candidates won enough votes to proceed into the second round, so Havel thus required only a majority of present members of both houses to be re-elected. In the end he scraped through by one vote in the Chamber of Deputies, with the votes of 99 of 197 present deputies, and 47 of 81 present senators. After the result was announced, Republican Vice Chairman Jan Vik said his party did not respect the result because Sladek was not allowed to vote. Sladek is in police custody in jail, and shortly before voting began the assembly voted not to allow him to take part. Vik said he would take party's objections to the Constitutional Court. First lady Dagmar Havlova reacted to Vik's last words "You should be ashamed, Mr. Havel," with two sharp whistles. Jana Ciglerova/Jana Ciglerova Reactions Carolina asked some politicians what the re-election of Vaclav Havel as president meant to them. Foreign Minister Jaroslav Sedivy said it "is a guarantee of stability of e foreign policy and of the country's international position. Havel is considered an arbiter in the internal political quarrels, and if there are any constants in the Czech Republic, it is definitely Havel." Jan Ruml, chairman of the Parliamentary Club of the new Freedom Union, said Havel "is the only one to fulfill perfectly the demanding criteria placed on the presidency. If he were not re-elected, it would mean massive complications on the international and domestic scene." According to Christian Democrat Chairman Josef Lux, "the Czech Republic sent the outside world a signal of continuity and stability." This opinion is shared by Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanova: "Havel is a man of extraordinary qualities and power, (re-election) is the best possible signal." "Considering that 70 per cent of the people supporting Vaclav Havel, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate proved they reflect the electorate's opinion. It was the only possible choice," said to Carolina Health Minister Zuzana Roithova. Jana Ciglerova/Veronika Machova Approval of Government in Jeopardy: Tosovsky Threatens Resignation The meeting of the chairmen of parliamentary parties carried out on the eve of the presidential election ended in the Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky's surprising statement. In response to the changing attitudes of political parties, he said that if the delays and lack of clarity continue he might resign. Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman Vaclav Klaus criticized the choice of the bill of the Sale of State-Owned Land Act to connect to the vote of confidence in the Cabinet; if Parliament does not vote on the bill in the period set by the law, it will lead to early elections (see Carolina 272). "The bill has a great symbolism and suggests much about the future of transformation," said Klaus, supporting his party's opinion. Christian Democrat Chairman Josef Lux said it is another obstruction and excuse for not approving the Government. The position of the strongest (after the Parliamentary Club of the Freedom Union left ODS) parliamentary party, the Social Democrats, is also uncertain. In his last statement for the press, Chairman Milos Zeman said he is preparing to call on his deputies to approve the Government if it gives up its plans for bank privatization and price deregulation. Zeman said the Social Democrats realize the fall of the Cabinet could postpone the term of the elections. The neo-Fascist Republicans have already said they would support any government that would lead to early elections. Meanwhile, the Government can be sure of the support of the Christian Democrats, the Civic Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Union. The vote of confidence will take place January 27. Jan Kozanek/Veronika Machova Freedom Union Enlarges Number of Conservative Parties At a meeting in Litomysl January 17 the Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) platform was re-worked into the basis for a new conservative political party, the Freedom Union (Unie Svobody - US). Its representatives pin their hopes on early elections, which, they say, should bring them at least 20 seats (10-per-cent support) in the Chamber of Deputies. The first meeting was carried out as a sort of burning of bridges between ODS and its former platform. "The Freedom Union will seek a different political style, but also a rather different type of political party, where policy is not created in the party's offices but in public," said Jan Ruml, its candidate for chairman, in the January 19 issue of daily MF DNES. US deputy Martin Syka said no former ODS leaders should be part of US leadership (elections will take place in about a month). Jiri Honajzer, who, like Syka, left the ODS Parliamentary Club, warns against unnecessary personal screening: "This party must not become a space for resuscitating political corpses. But let's be honest: Who of us here is not a little bit of a political corpse?" US founded on January 20 its parliamentary club (consisting of 28 members) and Ruml was elected chairman. The aims of the new party's policy were shown by their full support for President Vaclav Havel's re-election and its declaration of approval of Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky's Cabinet. Erik Tabery/Veronika Machova More on ODS Vice-Chairman Bohdan Dvorak's Exit Bohdan Dvorak left the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) because he could not change its negative perception in the eyes of the media and because party leaders would not cooperate with the police during investigations of ODS financial scandals. He left the post January 15, one month and one day after having taken it. Dvorak said his party colleagues did not support his work to clear up party finances. He called ODS Vice Chairman Miroslav Macek "the most passionate opponent of releasing all documents." Dvorak was a founding member of the Civic Forum in 1989, and from 1990-1993 he chaired the Club of Engaged Independents (KAN), which he left five years ago to join ODS. Dvorak is considered one of the most honorable members of ODS, and is considering whether to remain in the party. ODS has already granted the police travel documents, while Vice Chairwoman Libuse Benesova and Senator Jan Voracek are the guarantors of the party finance investigations. Jana Ciglerova/Andrea Snyder Josef Zieleniec Says All the Good Guys Are Leaving ODS Former Foreign Minister and Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Vice Chairman Josef Zieleniec January 20 became the most recent member to leave the party. He said it was because he does not want to belong to among for whom "lying and financial machinations is a legitimate form of policy." Zieleniec's unexpected resignation from his post as minister last October was one of the first causes of ODS's current crisis. "This party really can't be reformed from the inside," he said when he left party leadership talks January 16. The party branch he left a few days later (West Prague) is chaired by Alexander Tomsky, who studied journalism in Prague, and international relations, philosophy and theology in London, where he published the works of Vaclav Havel and philosopher Vaclav Belohradsky. He is now a member of the Freedom Union, which officially split from ODS January 17. Jana Ciglerova/Andrea Snyder Macek Reported to Have Founded Company with ODS Money Czech daily Pravo reported November 17 that Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Vice Chairman Miroslav Macek, party manager Tomas Ratiborsky and other ODS leaders founded the Society for Political Education (Spolecnost pro politicke vzdelavani). It is strange that the company did not make a monetary deposit when it was created, according to Czech commercial regulations. Its account could also serve to receive donations for ODS, the paper said. Macek rejected speculation about the company being a cover for unethical financing, saying the only financial connection is that the party gave them a loan until the organization could be classified a foundation and raise enough money. Jan Kozanek/Andrea Snyder ODS Finance Inspection Results to Be Ready before Elections The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) contracted the independent accounting firm Deloitte and Touche to audit the party by the end of April, i.e., before the election campaign. The audit will be of the the party's 1996-97 finances. ODS has announced that it will have to take out a 4-million-crown loan to pay for the audit. Petr Cermak was in charge of most of the finances in question. Jana Ciglerova/Andrea Snyder Another Romany Family Attacked On the night of January 16-17, an unknown man threw a Molotov cocktail through a Romany (Gypsy) family's window in Krnov. The fire immediately spread through the apartment, where a woman was badly burned as she tried to save her children from the flames. Less than a hour after what was probably a racially motivated crime, someone set fire to a car belonging to another Romany family. The woman was taken to the hospital with second- and third-degree burns. Her husband was left at home with minor burns on his leg. The family claims to have been threatened twice last year with Molotov cocktails. Deputy Interior Minister Vojtech Sedlacek and Police President Oldrich Tomasek immediately visited the family. Krnov Mayor Bedrich Marek promised the city would find a replacement apartment for the family. Erik Tabery/Andrea Snyder Social Democrats Clear Winners in Polls According to two independent opinion polls conducted in January by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM) and by the Center for Empirical Research (STEM), the former ruling Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) voter preference fell to an all-time low of 15 per cent. The Social Democrats has, on the contrary, strenghtened its position and has twice as many followers as the ODS (32 per cent). The Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) registered a definite improvement by increasing its voter preference to 7 per cent. One STEM analyst said the ODA and Freedom Union together could get 10 per cent of the vote in the next election, and that to enter the election as independent parties could be a risk. The Christian Democrats are still maintaining their steady support of 11 per cent. Surprisingly, both opinion polls do not indicate any improvement for extreme right-wing and left-wing parties, which could have benefited from the political crisis. However, the Communists (10 per cent) and neo-fascist Republicans (about 5 per cent) usually get more votes in the elections, because some of their supporters are afraid to state their preference in polls. Katerina Murlova/Milan Smid Son of Exile Writer Ota Filip Commits Suicide Pavel Filip, son of Czech writer Ota Filip (who has lived in Germany since the 70's), was found dead at his home January 14. A farewell letter and a will found with Pavel Filip suggest Pavel Filip committed suicide. According to his longtime friend Peter Spielmann, Pavel Filip was deeply affected by the news charging his father with collaborating with the former Czechoslovak Secret Police (StB). German television recently broadcast the program Laughing Barbarian, where evidence from StB files was shown. The last issue of the German weekly Der Spiegel dealt with the story as well. Ota Filip does not deny some of the evidence, but he argues he had been under the immense psychological and physical pressure in the beginning of the 70's. Czech writer Ludvik Vaculik said nobody who has not gone through such pressure has no right to tell other people how they should have behaved. Katerina Murlova/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA How Will Fall Elections Be Held in Slovakia? The governing coalition, led by Premier Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), is going to amend the Election Act in the February session of the National Assembly. The amendment should replace the existing election commissions with "independent courts." The opposition sees the move as an attempt to dismiss an independent control of fair elections. The second controversial amendment to the act is a proposal to raise the minimum for representation in the Assembly for election coalitions to 5 per cent for each coalition party, meaning each party in a coalition would need to receive the 5-per-cent minimum for an independent party. According to the Slovak opposition parties, this proposal contradicts the purpose of creating an election coalition. On the other hand, the Slovak Democratic Coalition is ready - if the amendment is passed - to form a single political party. The opposition said it is preparing its own amendment to the Election Act. Katerina Murlova/Milan Smid ECONOMY Budget Deficit at 16 Billion Crowns The 1997 deficit reached the unexpected height of 16 billion crowns. At the last minute the bottom line worsened with a transaction of more than 5 billion crowns into the Consolidation Bank (Konsolidacni banka), to cover losses from 1996. The economy was most significantly affected by July's floods, which caused damages estimated at 60 billion crowns, though the budget of course was not used to compensate all damages. Lenka Jindrlova/Gabriela Pecic Protective Measures against Apple Imports From January 14 all apples exceeding the quota of 24,000 tons will be subject to import tariff of 95 per cent. "It is necessary, because the constant increase in imports of consumer apples leads only to the further decrease of sales of domestic production," said Agriculture Minister Josef Lux in newspapers January 15. He also said that losses for growers and suppliers loss had reached 250 million crowns for the 1996-97 fiscal year. Importers can use up their quotas on a quarterly basis, with the possibility of adding any used space under the qouta into the next quarter. Lenka Jindrlova/Gabriela Pecic Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from January 23) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.178 Belgium 100 BEF 94.320 Great Britain 1 GBP 57.702 Denmark 1 DKK 5.106 Finland 1 FIM 6.426 France 1 FRF 5.807 Ireland 1 IEP 48.828 Italy 1000 ITL 19.748 Japan 100 JPY 27.706 Canada 1 CAD 24.315 Luxemburg 100 LUF 94.320 Hungary 100 HUF 17.078 Netherlands 1 NLG 17.262 Norway 1 NOK 4.712 New Zealand 1 NZD 20.363 Poland 1 PLN 9.985 Portugal 100 PTE 19.017 Austria 1 ATS 2.765 Greece 100 GRD 12.312 Slovakia 100 SKK 98.839 Germany 1 DEM 19.455 Spain 100 ESP 22.945 Sweden 1 SEK 4.409 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.912 USA 1 USD 35.153 ECU 1 XEU 38.361 SDR 1 XDR 47.066 CULTURE Fifth Year of Febiofest The fifth year of the Febiofest non-traditional film and television production festival began January 21 and will be shown in 20 cinemas in nine Czech and five Slovak towns. With 295 films (one-quarter more than last year), Febiofest will surpass in quantity the film festival in Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) and organizers said they expect 100,000 visitors. The festival is offering all sections that viewers were used to from previous years. Febiofest is also bringing new material from film schools and a retrospective of Czech documentary from the 30's to 90's. Project 100 has joined Febiofest for the forth time and is set for club cinemas. Festival tradition is to introduce new Czech films before their official premieres. This year there are going to be three: the comedy Dead Beetle (Mrtvej brouk) by director Pavel Marek, who drew attention as a member of the surrealist group Bullshit film (Bulsit film), opened the festival's program in Prague's Blanik Theater. Czech Soda (Ceska soda), the first Czech film which first came out on video, is an offshoot of the success of the eponymous TV series. Febiofest will end with the black comedy Bed (Postel) by Oscar Reif, about the horrible power of the female sex. Pavel Turek/Sofia Karakeva Milos Forman Awarded Honorary Doctorate Czech-American director Milos Forman was January 16 awarded an honorary Doctor Honoris Causa doctorate from the Academy of Musical Arts (AMU). Milos Forman graduated from AMU's Film Academy in 1955. The same doctorate was awarded for the first time to Czech president Vaclav Havel. Forman was a leader of the Czech New Wave and has received two best-director Oscars. During the traditional film festival in Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) last summer, Forman was honored for his lifetime achievement in world film. Pavel Turek/Sofia Karakeva Rector Announces Competition on Universities after 2000 Charles University Rector Karel Maly announced an international essay competition on the theme Universities after 2000. Students have the opportunity to present their essays concerning the future of universities in the next millennium. Students' works will be financially rewarded and the best one will receive 30,000 crowns. The competition is open to every student in the world and essays can be written in any language. The genre is up to the student, but the work should be at least 10 pages and at most 25 pages (with 1.5 line spacing). The deadline is June 30, and the rector will announce the results August 31. Winners will be also invited to the conference The University and Its Students, where they will meet with the rector. Erik Tabery/Sofia Karakeva Sisters of Mercy in Prague The British band The Sisters of Mercy stirred it up at Prague's Sport Hall January 17. The group became extremely popular in the 80's as a gothic rock band, and today they continue in their dark rock style. The band played hits such as Temple of Love, Amphetamine Logic and Come Together. Amphetamine Logic and Scoda Blush were the opening bands. The Sisters of Mercy still have the ability to play their kind of music, full of pessimism, suffering and visions of extinction. Ajla Zinhasovic/Ajla Zinhasovic SPORTS Czech Olympic Committee Approves Team for Nagano The Czech Olympic Committee approved the Czech team for the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano at its meeting January 16. The Czech Republic will be represented by 66 athletes, which is the second largest number ever. The best Czech medal hope is cross-country skier Katerina Neumannova. More success is expected from the hockey team, which Vaclav Prospal had to leave because of injury. Coaches Ivan Hlinka and Slavomir Lener did not pick a substitute from the NHL and nominated 12 players from Europe - eight from the Czech league (goalies Cechmanek and Hnilicka, defenseman Kucera and forwards Beranek, Dopita, Hejduk, Moravec and Ruzicka), three from Sweden (L. Prochazka, Spacek and Patera) and Caloun from Finland. Milan Kucera, the nordic combined skier, won his first World Cup event in Chaux-Neuve, France and became a new Czech star. In addition to the 23 hockey players, other sports are taking the following numbers of athletes: skiing - 22, biathlon - 10, bobsledding - six, figure skating - five. Jiri Polak/Mirek Langer Easy Group for Czech Republic in Euro 2000 Qualification The lottery for Euro 2000 qualification groups was a lucky one for Czech soccer players. For the first time, the championships will take place in two countries, in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the ninth group the Czechs will meet the following opponents: Scotland, Lithuania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands and Estonia. New national team Coach Jozef Chovanec was also satisfied, saying the lottery was "agreeable." The former Czechoslovak team played 10 games against Scotland in the past, winning four, tying once and losing five. The Czech Republic won all four matches against the Faroe Islands and won its only match against Lithuania 5-3. It has never met the teams of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia. Jiri Polak/Mirek Langer Loprais Wins Paris-Dakar Rally for Fourth Time In the 20th anniversary Paris-Dakar Rally Czech driver Karel Loprais finished at the top with his Tatra truck and won the competition for the fourth time. Milan Koreny topped off the Tatra trucks' domination, finishing third. The Czechs had also a representative among the best bikers for the first time, as Stanislav Zloch finished 10th. Czech driver Bedrich Sklenovsky ended his ride in Mali after being attacked by armed men (see Carolina 272). After his Triumph motorcycle broke down, Ivo Kastan retired in the first half of the rally. Jiri Polak/Mirek Langer Sparta Defeats Plzen in Historic Hockey Debacle Sparta Praha hockey players went to Pilsen (Plzen) and won 10-0, recording the most lopsided road victory in Czech league history. Former Plzen player Jelinek recorded five points, on three goals and two assists. Trinec moved into first place after two Vitkovice losses, while Vsetin is second, though it has played one match (against Plzen) more because of its play in the European Hockey League final group. Results of the 39th round: Plzen - Pardubice 5-3, Litvinov - Vsetin 2-2, Slavia Praha - Vitkovice 6-2, Opava - Sparta Praha 0-4, Ceske Budejovice - Jihlava 5-2, Zlin - Kladno 5-4, Karlovy Vary - Trinec 3-3. Results of the 40th round: Plzen - Sparta Praha 0-10, Trinec - Pardubice 5-2, Slavia Praha - Jihlava 2-2, Litvinov - Kladno 7-1, Ceske Budejovice - Karlovy Vary 7-1, Zlin - Vitkovice 3-0, Opava - Vsetin 2-2. Early match of the 41st round: Vsetin - Plzen 6-1. Standings: 1. Trinec 54 pts., 2. Vsetin 53, 3. Vitkovice 52, 4. Sparta Praha 50, 5. Slavia Praha 46, 6. Litvinov 45, 7. Plzen 45, 8. Jihlava 41, 9. Zlin 39, 10. Ceske Budejovice 36, 11. Pardubice 36, 12. Kladno 27, 13. Karlovy 21, 14. Opava 19. Jiri Polak/Mirek Langer WEATHER Is it me, or is it getting cold in here? English version edited by Michael Bluhm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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