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 286, Friday, April 24, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 15 - April 22) Havel's Condition Improving after His Third Operation Czech President Vaclav Havel has undergone a third operation in the last week at a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, where he was admitted April 14 for emergency surgery to remove an infected part of his intestine. His condition is now stabilized, he is kept under artificial sleep in order to conserve energy and his breathing is supported by a respiration machine, which he is gradually coming off. Havel was operated on by the same medical team as April 14; anaesthesiologist Bohumil Limberg was called in from Prague. According to chief doctor Miroslav Cerbak, doctors expected lung complications and had tried to avoid it by using breathing exercises. "The lungs are the president's most sensitive organ, due to his longtime smoking habit. His right lung almost does not function at all. The patient has been on antibiotics since the first operation," said Cerbak to Czech Television April 18. After finding out about Havel's fevers, caused by inflammation in a part of the intestine previously operated on, doctors decided to operate on Havel for the third time within a week. The latest operation was performed to drain an abscess in his abdomen. Doctors said his condition was not life-threatening. Surgery showed no evidence of any tumor and all other organs are said to be functioning well. Though doctors refuse to make any long-term predictions, Havel is expected to be back in his office before the parliamentary elections in June. His medical condition has sparked a wave of unofficial discussion over his future replacement. Only Civic Democratic Party deputy and Chamber of Deputies Vice Chairman Jaroslav Zverina openly asked Havel to reconsider giving up his office for health reasons. Zverina's words evoked strong negative reactions in the Czech public. Jana Ciglerova/Jana Ciglerova Freedom Union Presents Campaign Slogans Campaign slogans for the Freedom Union will be It's Normal Not to Lie (Normalni je nelhat), Play by the Rules (Hrat podle pravidel), Don't Go Halfway (Neustat v puli cesty) and Don't Think Only about Yourself (Nemyslet jen na sebe), framed by the campaign title A New Choice. The Freedom Union presented them April 18 in Prague's National House in Vinohrady at its second party congress. Delegates discussed more than 20 pages of the party's platform, which is now to be approved by party leadership. Party leadership should approve within 14 days a definitive version of the platform. The Freedom Union has made its priorities a functioning legal system, upholding the law and simplifying the court process, Czech membership in European structures and the integration of Romanies into society while retaining their cultural identity. The party wants to ensure that the state provides equal opportunities and becomes an instrument of solidarity between generations. It also wants to renew economic growth, reform the tax and pension systems, encourage competition in education, finish privatization and price deregulation and stimulate the housing market. Chairman Jan Ruml said he is aware of the similarities of the platforms of the country's three leading non-leftist parties (along with the Civic Democratic Party and Christian Democrats), but he said the similarity is given by parties' proximity on the political spectrum. One significant difference in the Freedom Union platform is the proposal to change election to the Chamber of Deputies from a proportional system to a majority system, and in the Senate to introduce a proportional system (see Carolina 283). Karolina Kucerova/Michael Bluhm Polls Still Give Retirees Chance The agency Sofres-Factum published April 21 the latest pre-election public opinion poll, which confirmed previous findings that the non-parliament Party of Retirees for Life Security (Duchodci za zivotni jistoty, DZJ) might pass the 5-per-cent limit needed for entry into the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament. In contrast to February's 4.1-per-cent voter preferences, the party gained 6.9 per cent of potential voters in April. According to the most respected agencies - Sofres-Factum, STEM and IVVM - the Social Democrats are still leading the polls with voter preferences between 24 per cent and 26 per cent. The support of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) ranges between 11-16 per cent, Freedom Union (US) 12-13 per cent, Communists (KSCM) 9-11 per cent, Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) 6-9 per cent and the ultra-nationalist Republicans got (SPR-RSC) 5-7 per cent of voter preferences. Differences in results of the particular agencies stem from the different methodology of polling. IVVM and STEM ask people directly about the party they will vote for in the next election, while Sofres-Factum submits respondents a list of all existing political parties. CEO of Sofres-Factum Jan Herzmann admits that his method is favorable to smaller parties. When comparing poll and election results two years ago, the STEM agency came the closest to the actual results. Ivona Pulkrabkova/Milan Smid NEWS IN BRIEF * At the end of April Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky will meet the chairman of the largest labor union (CMKOS), Richard Falbr. Tosovsky said he wants to explain to Falbr why he cancelled the previous meeting planned for April 9. At that time the union intended to discuss with the Prime Minister wage increases in the public sector. * The press reported April 16 about an Easter incident between about 50 Romanies (Gypsies) and a city police patrol in Usti nad Labem. Seven people were injured, three of them hospitalized. Four Romanies have been charged with racism, assaulting a public official and disturbing the peace, and one of those charged has been taken into custody. * Former SS member and supervisor in the Terezin (Theresienstadt) camp Anton Malloth is a German citizen. The CTK news agency released this information April 15, quoting the spokesman of Germany's Justice Ministry. According to German law, Malloth cannot be extradited to the Czech Republic, where he, after World War II, was sentenced to death as a war criminal. Jan Puncochar/Denisa Vitkova FROM SLOVAKIA Citizens in Sturovo Vote in Referendum In the southern Slovak town of Sturovo, inhabited mostly by Hungarians, a referendum on the direct presidential election and NATO membership took place April 19. The referendum took place despite a ban by the District Court in Nove Zamky and threats of violence. Perhaps the threats led to the low voter turnout of 48 per cent, which made the referendum invalid. Representatives of the International Society for Human Rights present expressed their great concern about how pro-government daily the Slovak Republic (Slovenska republika) had appealed to the army for intervention against the referendum. Although everything went off without incident, many citizens did not conceal their fear of voting. Last year the nationwide referendum on the identical issues was stopped by government officials. After the Constitution Court ruled the officials' steps unconstitutional, former President Michal Kovac set a new referendum date for April 19; however, the Premier Vladimir Meciar cancelled the April 19 referendum after taking over some presidential powers. Ales Bartl/Denisa Vitkova Slovakia Still Has No President Three candidates competed to become head of the Slovak state April 16 in the third round of presidential elections in the National Assembly. Milan Secansky from the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) garnered the most votes, although even he said he does not expect to be elected in the run-off vote April 30 (he needs the votes of opposition assemblymen to be elected). However, opposition members have lately been saying that electing the HZDS candidate is the only way to stop Premier Vladimir Meciar from fully assuming presidential authority. Slovakia has been without a president since March 1 when Michal Kovac's term of office expired. Ales Bartl/Denisa Vitkova ECONOMY A Light at the End of the Tunnel The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament approved a revised Investment Funds and Investment Companies Act. Most significantly, the bill requires funds to lower their holdings in companies from the current maximum of 20 per cent to 11 per cent by the end of 2000. It also requires investment and mutual funds to open if their discounts become too large, and it requires all funds to open by the end of 2002 no matter the discount. If the bill is approved by the Senate it could become effective in July. According to economic expert Jan Sykora, lowering funds' shares of companies will lead to real privatization. Finance Minister Ivan Pilip said the revisions suggest a new government approach to the role of funds. "We are directing them toward the area of portfolio investment and not toward direct influence in companies," Pilip said to business daily Hospodarske noviny. Pilip also said it is important that the new act will reduce the rampant defrauding of funds by their managers. "The proposal was based on analysis examining how the biggest frauds and tunnels were and are being made in funds - for example, the use of down payments, future contracts, etc.. All of this will be limited by the new act," said Pilip. Katerina Murlova/Matej Cerny Opposition Calls on Government to Halt Privatization The massive absence of Parliament deputies of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Freedom Union (US) allowed the Social Democrats, Communists and neo-Fascist Republicans to call on the government to stop the privatization of strategic companies and banks April 19. According to the constitution, however, the government does not have to comply with the resolution. In the April 20 issue of business daily Hospodarske noviny Finance Minister Ivan Pilip (US) said he will not recommend the Government respect the resolution. The daily Lidove Noviny warned that Parliament sent a negative signal to foreign investors. "This resolution will certainly not improve the Government's position in preparing the privatization of strategic companies and might significantly affect the amount of the offers," said Miroslav Singer of Expandia Finance to the daily. The leftist parties and the Republicans also succeeded in cutting the 1998 budget of the National Property Fund (FNM) from the 159.5 million crowns proposed by the Government to 139.3 million crowns. Parliament did not approve the FNM's 1997 accounting or its annual report. On the proposal of the Social Democrats, Parliament also recalled most of the members of the FNM's presidium, a move intended to lead to the removal of FNM Chairman Roman Ceska, who would be voted out by the new presidium. Ceska is allegedly to blame for poor management of the FNM, dubious privatizations, signing disadvantageous contracts and the inability to make debtors, who owe the fund 5.3 billion crowns, pay. Nora Novakova/Matej Cerny IPB with 11-billion-crown loss for 1997 The Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB) concluded 1997 with a loss of 11.1 billion crowns, according to IPB Supervisory Board Chairman Randal Dillard. The loss was caused by a dramatic increasing of the bank's reserves. On the recommendation of new strategic partner Nomura, the bank raised its reserves and write-offs from more than 14 billion crowns to 22 billion crowns; the bank now has the largest reserves of any Czech bank. IPB is planing to limit loans and will concentrate on retail banking. This year, the bank wants to end up with profits of 2 billion crowns and pay shareholders a dividend. Ludvik Pospisil/Gabriela Pecic Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from April 24) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.709 Belgium 100 BEF 90.096 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.390 Denmark 1 DKK 4.869 ECU 1 XEU 36.728 Finland 1 FIM 6.119 France 1 FRF 5.539 Ireland 1 IEP 46.775 Italy 1000 ITL 18.789 Japan 100 JPY 25.498 Canada 1 CAD 23.251 Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.096 IMF 1 XDR 44.851 Hungary 100 HUF 15.828 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.493 Norway 1 NOK 4.476 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.616 Poland 1 PLN 9.768 Portugal 100 PTE 18.130 Austria 1 ATS 2.639 Greece 100 GRD 10.701 Germany 1 DEM 18.570 Slovakia 100 SKK 95.985 Slovenia 100 SIT 19.932 Spain 100 ESP 21.864 Sweden 1 SEK 4.342 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.434 USA 1 USD 33.264 CULTURE Prague Writers' Festival '98 Too Loud a Solitude (or In Honor of Bohumil Hrabal) is the title of the 8th Prague Writers' Festival '98, which is taking place in the capital April 20-25. An interview with beatnik poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, followed by his and other poets' reading of their work, drew enormous interest from the public and the media the first day. The festival is divided by different themes on each day: April 21 was British day, April 22 was the day of Portuguese-speaking countries, April 23 was Austrian day and April 25 will be dedicated to Polish literature. The April 24 schedule is a mixture of authors from different countries. Some other components of the festival are photo exhibits called Uproarious Solitude (Hrabal in pictures) and The Third Generation (portraits of contemporary Austrian authors) and an exhibit of photographs of Polish Nobel Prize winners. Also as part of the festival, the City Library of Prague was re-opened on April 20. Paula Majorova/Ajla Zinhasovic Beatnik Days in Prague The Beat Generation Fest is going on in Prague from April 19-24. On April 19 at 1:30 p.m. in the Evangelical church of St. Salvatore, Lawrence Ferlinghetti opened the festivities with the first of six happenings, this one called Nonstop Ferlinghetti, 72 hours of continuous reading of his verses. Readers included celebrities like Foreign Minister Jaroslav Sedivy, former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus or any passerby who felt like signing on. The recitation ended April 22 at 2 p.m.. Happenings like the Return of the Beat Generation (a discussion about beatniks with Ruth Weiss, Brenda Knight and Carolyn Cassady), the 7th International Book Fair and the 13th Prague Jazz Days took place April 22. On the (Beat) Road is the biggest exhibition of documents about the counterculture generation of the 50's. There are 200 panels of articles and photographs. The organizers managed to get from Jan Frolik, the head of the Interior Ministry's Department of Confidential Materials, previously unreleased documentation of the expulsion of Allen Ginsberg from Prague in 1965. The connection between the Beat Generation Fest and the 8th Prague Writers' Festival '98 is based on the common autograph session April 22 and the shared participation of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Paula Majorova/Sofia Karakeva SPORTS Tennis Players Lose in Fed Cup: Czech Republic - Switzerland 1-4 The Czech Republic lost in the first round of the tennis KB Fed Cup to Switzerland 1-4 in Brno. The world's top female player Martina Hingis won three of the four Swiss points. Czech tennis players, defending last year's semifinal finish, will have to win a later match to stay in the World Group. Jana Novotna (3rd in the WTA rankings) met 19-year-old Patty Schnyder (17th). Novotna played an important match in the city she was born in for the first time in 10 years, and she said she was nervous. In the end she defeated Schnyder 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Hingis immediately tied the score at 1-1 by beating Adriana Gersi 6-2, 6-1. The second day's program April 19 was opened by the singles match between Hingis and Novotna, a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final. Novotna, like in Wimbledon, started stronger than Hingis, winning the first set, then the 12-year difference between ages of Hingis, 17, and Novotna took its toll. Hingis defeated Novotna 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and got the important second point for Switzerland. The Swiss moved into the next round as Schnyder defeated Gersi 6-3, 6-3. The closing doubles match ended up with another easy Swiss win: Chladkova, Richterova - Hingis, Schnyder 0-6, 1-6. Hana Mandlikova said after the match she would leave the post of team captain. "Do not look for any connection between today's loss and my decision, because inside I resolved to take this step before the match," she said. Mandlikova led the team for three years and took the team from the qualification to the World Group semifinal. Switzerland spelled doom for Czech tennis for the second time in a short period. The Czech men lost to the Swiss in the Davis Cup three weeks ago, which led to the firing of captain Vladislav Savrda. Savrda was sacked just before the conference where a new executive committee and president will be elected for the tennis union. Savrda said, "The people who know these are their last days in the committee, including President Kodes, took this retaliatory action against me because of my sharp criticism of their work." Michal Cerny/Mirek Langer National Hockey Team Fails Twice in Preparation Matches The Czech hockey players lost to Finland in Helsinki in both preparation matches before the World Championships. In the first match April 17 they lost 2-3 and then April 19 by 3-6. In both matches the Finnish team took advantage of third-period collapses by the Czechs. Coach Slavomir Lener was satisfied by the play of the first match, but after the second game he complained about poor power-plays. The Czech team will not be able to use players from the NHL (Dvorak from Florida, Reichel from Islanders and Toronto's Prochazka) in the Stockholm tournament because NHL management did not allow them to participate. Jakub Svab/Mirek Langer Czech Hockey Players near Euro Hockey Tour Title The Czechs defeated Finland 3-2 in the first match of the Swedish Games in Stockholm and it is a foregone conclusion they will win the Euro Hockey Tour, which also includes tournaments in Zlin, Moscow and Helsinki. In the other game Sweden defeated Russia 3-1, but it has only a slim chance to overtake the Czechs, being four points behind. The Czechs led after Beranek's goal in the 10th minute 1-0, but Finland turned the match in the second period thanks to Helminen and Peltonen. The Czech team managed to regain momentum immediately on scores by Dopita and defender Kucera. All three scorers have gold medals from the Nagano Olympics. Goalie Cechmanek led the team to its first win in Stockholm. Defender Srdinko was carried to hospital after he was hit near the boards in the kidneys. Another defender also left the match before the end as Spacek hurt his ankle. The Czechs' 3-2 win against Canada is not counted in the standings of the Tour, and so the Czechs have to cap off the tour championship with a win or tie April 24 against Russia. Jiri Polak/Mirek Langer Soccer League: Fight between Last-Place Teams Gets Dramatic The complete program of the soccer league's 24th round was played April 18, except the game between Brno and Jablonec, which finished in a tie the day before. Dukla lost to Hradec Kralove 1-2 and sank to the bottom of the standings. Ceske Budejovice managed to win in Bohdanec and keeps its hopes alive for staying in the top league. The four best teams won their games: first-place Sparta (58 points), second-place Slavia (45), third-place Olomouc (41) and fourth-place Ostrava (40). Ninth-place Teplice has to be afraid of falling to the second league, with a three-point edge over second-to-last-place Ceske Budejovice. Six teams - Teplice, Opava, Dukla, Drnovice, Plzen and Ceske Budejovice - will then fight not to be the one to fall out of the league for next season. Last-place Bohdanec's loss determined it has now no chance to stay in the league. Results: Brno - Jablonec 2-2, Dukla - Hradec Kralove 1-2, Liberec - Viktoria Zizkov 3-0, Opava - Sparta Praha 0-2, Slavia Praha - Plzen 2-1, Drnovice - Olomouc 0-2, Ostrava - Teplice 1-0, Bohdanec - Ceske Budejovice 0-1. Jakub Svab/Mirek Langer WEATHER April is playing games with us: one minute there is a gloomy sky and 7 degrees Celsius/45 degrees Fahrenheit and the next minute there's sun and 15 degrees Celsius/59 degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as the sun shows itself in the sky and we turn our faces toward its rays and take off our sweaters, it brutally disappears behind black clouds and there's gloomy weather again. It's spring and autumn at once. Ludvik Pospisil/Sofia Karakeva 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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