Jiri Paroubek re-elected as Social Democrat leader; he calls for party's modernisation

Social Democrat chairman Jiri Paroubek was re-elected as the party's leader at its annual conference in Brno on Friday evening. He received sixty percent of the delegates' votes, a total which was significantly less than the 92 percent support he received when first elected last May. Mr Paroubek was the only person standing for the post. Speaking at the conference, Mr Paroubek said the Social Democrats had to modernise in order to win the next election. He said that party needed to appeal more to younger and middle-aged people and also called for more women to be put on the party list of candidates, which he described as a sign of the party's modern thinking.