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 THE CZECH REPUBLIC Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz ISSN 121-5040 tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 404, Friday, February 2, 2001. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 24 - January 31) Senate Chairman in Cuba to Discuss Arrest of Czechs Senate Chairman Petr Pithart flew to Cuba January 29. Pithart headed to Havana on Cuban President Fidel Castro's invitation after Pithart sent Castro a letter calling for the release of former Finance Minister and current deputy Ivan Pilip and former 1989 student leader and businessman Jan Bubenik. Both men have been held in Havana's Villa Marista jail since January 12. Pithart stated in the letter that the two were not acting in Cuba as representatives of the Czech Republic. A day after his arrival, Pithart met with a Cuban Parliament delegation and discussed with the foreign and justice ministers the fate of the Czechs. His meeting with Castro should take place February 2. The Czech Chamber of Deputies January 25 approved a resolution stating that the arrest is baseless and requesting their immediate release. Havana provided the first official information on the case two weeks after the arrest. Cuban authorities claim they have evidence proving Pilip and Bubenik's trip to Cuba was financed by the United States' Freedom House, which gave them the names and addresses of local dissidents. Cuba demands an apology from the Czech Republic. Czech President Vaclav Havel and other Czech leaders, such as Prime Minister Milos Zeman, said they see no reason why the Czech Republic should apologize. Dana Zlatohlavkova/Sofia Karakeva Constitutional Court Strikes down Disputed Electoral Changes The Constitutional Court ruled January 24 that five of six key changes to the Electoral Act, spawned by the Opposition Contract between the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), are unconstitutional and invalid. The court thus ruled in favor of a complaint filed by President Vaclav Havel, who claimed parts of the act violated the constitutional requirement for proportional representation. Havel refused to sign the bill and after the Chamber of Deputies overrode his veto he filed the complaint. According to Havel and senators from the Four-Party Coalition (who also filed a complaint), the act restricted the free competition of political parties and discriminated against smaller political groups. The court invalidated the following provisions: the act raised the number of electoral districts from eight to 35; in each district a party would pay a fee of 40,000 crowns; parties who won at least 2 per cent of the vote would receive for each vote 30 crowns from the state budget instead of the previous 90 crowns; to represent a district in Parliament a party would have to win at least four seats in the district; the method for calculating seats would also favor large parties. The court upheld the requirement of 5 per cent of the vote for a party to enter Parliament, with a coalition needing a multiple of this figure - meaning that the Four-Party Coalition, if it remains a coalition, needs 20 per cent of the vote in the 2002 general election to have a seat in the legislature. Constitutional Court Judge Vladimir Cermak described the act as an "unconstitutional hybrid." "I respect the decision, even though I do not agree with it in any case," said ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus. The act must be amended before the scheduled 2002 elections. Jakub Vavruska/Sofia Karakeva Svoboda to Lead Four-Party Coalition The political council of the Four-Party Coalition (Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party, KDU-CSL; Freedom Union, US; Civic Democratic Alliance, ODA; Democratic Union, DEU) elected as their leader January 28 after a weekend-long meeting in Zdar nad Sazavou Cyril Svoboda, vice chairman of the Christian Democrats. The paradox is that Svoboda was not among the three candidates for the post. The leader should have been either Karel Kuhnl (US), Jaroslav Kopriva (KDU-CSL) or Michael Zantovsky (ODA). The fourth coalition party, the DEU, did not nominate a candidate. Svoboda, 44, has a law degree and came to prominence as an adviser to the first post-1989 Prime Minister Marian Calfa. From 1992-1996 Svoboda was deputy justice minister, in 1998 he was interior minister under the government of Josef Tosovsky. Svoboda wanted to be his party's candidate as coalition leader, but the party chose the nearly unknown Kopriva. After the eight-member political council (three seats for the US, three for KDU-CSL, one for ODA and one for DEU) failed to agree on any of the three candidates, they started to discuss Svoboda. The political scene reacted to Svoboda's nomination positively. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said the coalition elected its most capable man. Members of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) say Svoboda's election means the coalition will lean to the left and leave ODS as the only right-wing party. Svoboda's reputation is that he favors cooperate with the Social Democrats before the ODS. Jakub Vavruska/Sofia Karakeva Ombudsman Has a New Deputy - Anna Sabatova The Chamber of Deputies elected Anna Sabatova, one of the first speakers for the Charter 77 movement and the wife of Petr Uhl, the government's envoy for human rights, as Ombudsman Otakar Motejl's deputy. The election was not a surprise, because she had the support of the ruling Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) supported her rival, former ODS Senator Jan Voracek. Motejl said he is pleased with the result of election, he called Sabatova a very suitable person for the function and said he recommended her election. Uhl resigned his function January 31 to prevent a possible conflict of interests. Dana Zlatohlavkova/Adam Fendrych Czech TV Strike Continues Despite approval of the new Czech Television Act (see Carolina 403), which became law January 25, the strike at public-service broadcaster Czech Television (CT) continues. Although called a strike, the employees are working and the station is broadcasting. All efforts to negotiate a solution between the CT union and the temporary management have failed. Vera Valterova, who was appointed caretaker general director by the former General Director Jiri Hodac (see Carolina 402), refuses to meet union leaders, and the Strike Committee is questioning the legality of all of Hodac's appointments and disobeys orders given by Hodac's appointees. Valterova announced another 13 news reporters were given notice. Parliament should elect a provisional CT general director February 9. The former leading candidate Katerina Fricova withdrew from the search to accept an offer to manage the largest Czech commercial radio chain (Frekvence 1, Evropa 2, RRM). There are six remaining candidates: Valterova, Jana Bobosikova (appointed news director by Hodac), former CT producers Jiri Balvin and Karel Kochman, CT Financial Director from 1998-99 Michael Kralert and Vratislav Mechura, former director of the local commercial radio station Prachen in Southern Bohemia. Jakub Vavruska/Milan Smid NEWS IN BRIEF * A bill approved January 26 will lower the pensions of early retirees significantly starting in July. The difference will depend on the age of retirement and the pension; it will vary from dozens of crowns up to 700 crowns a month. Those who wait past the state-stipulated retirement age will receive extra benefits. Katerina Komadova/Stepan Vorlicek FROM SLOVAKIA Constitutional Amendment Tests Stability of Government Coalition Negotiations about a constitutional amendment have turned out to be another test of stability for the government coalition. The main changes would include establishing an ombudsman post, creating new administrative regions and strengthening the power of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Audit Office. The Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) said it would support the draft if the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages is ratified, a school to educate Hungarian educators is established and land belonging to unknown owners is transferred to municipalities. The SMK threatened to leave the government, which made the government coalition accept the first two conditions (see Carolina 403) and gained SMK's support. The National Assembly has been discussing the amendment since January 30. Zdenek Sloboda/Stepan Vorlicek ECONOMY Fraud Charges in IPB Case Police charged six bankers from the collapsed Investment and Postal Bank (IPB) with fraud. Among those charged are former Deputy General Director Libor Prochazka, for years the eminence gris of the Czech economy, and Randall Dillard of Nomura. If convicted, the bankers face a sentence of up to 12 years in prison. The investigation continues, while these first charges concern the sale of the Czech Beer (Ceske pivo) company, which held control of the country's top two breweries, Radegast and Pilsner Urquell. IPB was placed under forced administration June 19, 2000 (see Carolina 381) and was later purchased by the Czechoslovak Trade Bank (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, CSOB). Police January 26 rejected the criminal complaint filed against Finance Minister Pavel Mertlik by Miroslav Kalousek of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), who chairs the parliamentary committee investigating the IPB case. The committee is investigating the forced administration of the bank and the reasons for the bank's collapse. The committee's final report should be finished in May. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) asked Mertlik to resign when it was announced that the state will have to pay as much as 180 billion crowns in compensation for IPB's losses. Mertlik said the final amount will not be that large (the exact numbers should be known in June) and will not resign. ODS blames Mertlik for enabling the "crime of the century in broad daylight," in reference to the lightning fast sale by the state of IPB to CSOB. Dana Zlatohlavkova/Stepan Vorlicek Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid February 2) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 34.850 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 20.506 Great Britain 1 GBP 54.508 Denmark 1 DKK 4.669 Japan 100 JPY 31.851 Canada 1 CAD 24.713 IMF 1 XDR 48.041 Hungary 100 HUF 13.138 Norway 1 NOK 4.243 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.541 Poland 1 PLN 9.105 Slovakia 100 SKK 79.705 Slovenia 100 SIT 16.175 Sweden 1 SEK 3.916 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.723 USA 1 USD 37.017 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.819 Belgium 100 BEF 86.391 Finland 1 FIM 5.861 France 1 FRF 5.313 Ireland 1 IEP 44.250 Italy 1000 ITL 17.999 Luxemburg 100 LUF 86.391 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.814 Portugal 100 PTE 17.383 Austria 1 ATS 2.533 Greece 100 GRD 10.227 Spain 100 ESP 20.945 CULTURE Prague Portion of Febiofest Breaks Records The eighth year of Febiofest, a festival showing films from 44 countries, has been in Prague and will go to 11 other Czech and Slovak cities from January 24-February 18. This year features more than 600 movies, including roughly 10 Czech premieres. From January 24-31 seven Prague cinemas presented sections on Northern, Baltic, Southern, West-European and Russian films and offered a British costume-film hall, too. The Slavic House (Slovansky dum) multiplex on Na Prikope street presented the world premiere of Jan Svankmajer's Otesanek in its 10 movie theaters simultaneously. Other films making their first appearance here included Krzystof Zanussi's Life as a Terminal Disease Transmitted by Sex, Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot and the Coen Brothers' Brother, Where Art Thou? Almost 2,000 people came to see Otesanek on the first day and attendance remained high on following days, as well. Last year's total number of visitors in Prague was surpassed halfway through this year's festival. The City Library paid homage to tradition and offered the section coordinated with Project 100, which presents masterpieces of world cinema, such as Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, Dreams of Akira Kurosawa, Dr. Strangelove, Blue Velvet, Last Tango in Paris and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The library also presented a section on gay and lesbian films. Some festival films were brought by their authors themselves, such as Zanussi, Oleg Tabakov and Erik de Bruyn, who held discussions with the audience in the Evald Cinema. Katerina Komadova/Adam Fendrych SPORTS Hockey Extraleague: Vsetin Returns to First Place Vsetin returned to the lead of the hockey extraleague's standings after the 41st round. Vsetin's win over Kladno was decided by four goals in the first period. A testy game was closed by a fight between Vsetin captain Jiri Dopita and Kladno's forward Robert Dome, won again by Vsetin's side. Slavia Praha found its offense and won its fifth game in a row. After a win in Karlovy Vary it got closer to eighth place and the last spot in the playoffs. Litvinov returned to ice after a flu epidemic without some of its players and lost in Pardubice, but then won the postponed game against Karlovy Vary. Results of the 41st round: Vsetin - Kladno 7-2, Sparta Praha - Vitkovice 4-2, Karlovy Vary - Slavia Praha 2-4, Trinec - Znojmo 3-2 OT, Pardubice - Litvinov 6-2, Ceske Budejovice - Zlin 3-1, Havirov - Plzen 3-1. Result of the postponed game of the 40th round: Karlovy Vary - Litvinov 1-4. Standings: 1. Vsetin 74, 2. Zlin 71, 3. Pardubice 70, 4. Ceske Budejovice 64, 5. Sparta Praha 64, 6. Litvinov 61, 7. Znojmo 60, 8. Vitkovice 60, 9. Slavia Praha 57, 10. Trinec 56, 11. Plzen 54, 12. Kladno 47, 13. Havirov 46, 14. Karlovy Vary 43. Karlovy Vary Hosts All-Star Game The biggest celebrities of the hockey extraleague met in Karlovy Vary to play the league's sixth All-Star Game January 28. Fans, journalists and coaches selected the two teams, split into East and West squads. Petr Sykora of Pardubice is the fastest player in the league, he skated around the rink in 14.417 seconds. The record for fastest shot was not broken, but the battle was very dramatic, as four players shot at the same speed of 145 kmph (90 mph). A shoot-out decided the winner - Zlin defenseman Tomas Zizka. In the game the East defeated the West 8-7 in overtime. The fans were entertained mainly by Robert Reichel' wonderful goals and assists and the jokes of Plzen goalkeeper Dusan Salficky. SPORTS IN BRIEF * The national handball team did not advance from the preliminary group of the World Championships in Montpellier, France. The Czechs tied Iceland in their last game 29-29. They led one minute before the end by one goal, but an unconverted penalty shot and mistakes in the last seconds spelled defeat. * The Czech figure skaters' performance in the European Championships in Bratislava was a disappointment. Pair Michaela Krutska and Marek Sedlmajer recorded the best result, finishing in 11th place. Lenka Seniglova, the 17-year-old hope of Czech skating, finished 20th and Katerina Kovalova with David Szurman finished 19th in the ice dancing competition. Lukas Rakowski did not advance from the qualifications. The top Czech pair of Katerina Berankova and Oto Dlabola did not compete because of Berankova's illness. * Ladislav Rygl finished third in the nordic combined World Cup event in Steamboat Springs January 26. Rygl finished behind the United States' Todd Lodwick and Austria's Felix Gottwald, the leader of the World Cup overall standings. * Blsany soccer goalkeeper Petr Cech was sold to Sparta for 21 million crowns. It was the largest amount ever paid for a goalkeeper in the Czech league. The German team Werder Bremen was also interested in Cech. Cech, the goalkeeper of the 2000 Czech Olympic team, was signed to a contract through 2006, although he will stay in Blsany till the end of the season. Sparta has two national team goalkeepers besides Cech - Tomas Postulka and Jaromir Blazek. Sport News by David Pilar and Ondrej Trunecka/Mirek Langer WEATHER The flu epidemic is in full swing. On Tuesday January 30 schools closed in the Kolin and Pisek districts, students around Jicin and Plzen are also free. A cold front is expected for the weekend, meaning tough times for bacteria and a similarly unhappy return to school for students. English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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