Lower house rejects referendum on US military base

The lower house on Wednesday rejected the Communist Party's proposal that a referendum should decide about the possibility of hosting a US missile base on Czech territory. The Communist Party said the bill would be re-drafted in line with the objections voiced and would be put to the lower house again at the earliest possible date. Although the United States has not yet made a decision on where it would like to station its planned missile base, the Czech Republic is still in the running. Unlike the Social Democrats and Communists, the governing Civic Democrats are not opposed to having a US missile base on Czech territory. On the other hand, public opinion polls indicate that the majority of Czechs are not happy about the idea.