Former Social Democrat leader slams party for failure to stick to anti-corruption agenda

Former leader of the Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, on Tuesday commented on David Rath’s arrest, stating that the case demonstrated the party had failed to become a viable alternative to the right-of-center parties. He added that in many regions, governors of the Social Democratic party used politics as a means for enterprise. Mr Paroubek called the opposition party “a clone” of the Civic Democrats, some of whose senior officials have come under suspicion of corruption in the past. The former Social Democrats’ leader, who is currently the head of the left-leaning NS-LEV 21, made it clear that he feels the Social Democrats had failed in implementing their anti-corruption agenda. Since the 2008 regional elections, the party has been governing all of the country’s regions with the exception of Prague.

Author: Sarah Borufka