EU election campaign kicks off

In just over two weeks time Czechs will go to the polls to vote in their first ever elections to the European Parliament. Thirty one parties and political groupings are registered and fighting for voter support. From the big league players to virtual unknowns, all are telling Czechs that they alone can best serve their interests in the European Parliament.

EU election campaign kicks off

Civic Democrats' campaing, photo: CTK

The Czech capital is plastered with election billboards and as of this Wednesday radio and TV stations are running the promotion clips of individual parties and independent candidates. The Christian Democrats are shown with their finger in the European pie - showing viewers how big a slice the European People's Party has. "We can do the most for you!" - the Christian Democrats claim. The opposition Civic Democrats, who have often criticized the governing coalition for not getting the Czech Republic a better deal in accession talks, have gone for a slightly different tack - aiming to attract both supporters and opponents of EU membership. "Did you vote for or against EU membership?" -their promotion clip asks. "Whether you like it or not we are in the EU - and decisions made in the European Parliament will influence your life. So think carefully about whom you want to send there -and who will best defend Czech interests!" The promotion spot shows all the candidates doing a pole vault to get to the European Parliament. While their rivals take bad falls or fly off into the distance, the Civic Democrats all land safely in EP seats.

Dolly Buster

Some promotion clips attempt to provoke a smile, others openly attack or ridicule their rivals. The independents say "trust us, we don't serve a party, we serve only you".

When a leading Czech economics weekly asked Czechs whose interests they thought Czech deputies to the EP would be representing 46 percent of respondents said: their own or that of their party, at the most.

The big parties which stand a chance of gaining the most EP seats have two major concerns - firstly, that their supporters will not bother to go to the polls, and secondly that they will vote frivolously and fritter away the country's EP seats. The Civic Democrats have warned voters against supporting the former porn star Dolly Buster, arguing that it would just be a waste of votes. The Social Democrats too have reason for concern - a quarter of those who say they are not going to the polls are Social Democrat supporters. At present surveys indicate a 49 percent turnout - which is good reason for all candidates to make one last effort to get their message to the people.