Mailbox
In this week's edition of Mailbox: the European elections, the train v. the bus, the Jan Zizka memorial. Listeners quoted: Kingston Nkrumah, Carolyn Pratt, and Emmanuel Bromis.
"When will the European elections take place? I heard your report by Pavla Horakova. She said there are many smaller parties who are standing in the elections. Do they have a chance of getting seats in the European Parliament? Are Czechs interested in the elections?"
I'm afraid, the smaller parties are most likely not going to get enough votes. But it seems like the parties in the governing coalition - the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Freedom Union - aren't going to get the support they would like to either. Latest opinion polls show that the party which will most likely get the highest number of votes is the opposition right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party. It's followed by the Communists - the other main opposition - and only then the senior coalition party, the Social Democratic Party. The only non-parliamentary party that appears to stand a chance is that of the Independents and maybe with some luck, the Green Party as well. In the Czech Republic, the elections will be held between 2pm-10pm on Friday June 11 and from 8am to 2pm on Saturday, June 12. The final results, though, won't come in before 10pm on Sunday.
I would say that Czechs are only now starting to realise that the elections are drawing near and that they should go and vote. That's because the various campaigning parties have just started approaching people and results of EU election polls make the front pages of the dailies.
Carolyn Pratt is from Atlanta, USA, and writes:
Well, I personally prefer to travel by bus because it usually goes directly to the place I'm heading and it's safer when you're travelling alone. But I seem to be an exception because most Czechs say it's better to take the train. There's more room and it's much easier to meet lots of interesting people and enjoy the view. As far as prices are concerned, it depends where you're going. Overall, I would say the bus is cheaper but Czech Railways have been offering quite a few good deals lately for both individuals and groups. It's the overnight journeys that are probably safer by bus. I know of two people who were robbed in trains, while travelling from Prague to Budapest. My advice is to wait until you get to Prague and then plan from here.
Emmanuel Bromis writes from Australia and says:
Yes, that's true. Jan Zizka, however, is linked to the Hussites because he was a famous Hussite military leader. The memorial you are talking about must be the one in Trocnov, some 15 km southeast of Ceske Budejovice. I haven't seen it myself but many say that it's worth going to simply for the beautiful countryside around it. Trocnov, by the way, was the birthplace of Jan Zizka.
And it's time for our competitions. Let's start with the annual competition, you have a little under a month to take part and the task is very easy. Just send us a few lines, at least half a page, on what Czech music means to you. The main prize will be a week in Prague and there'll also be a number of attractive runner-up prizes. You have until June 15 to get your answers to us.
And the question for the month of May: "May 12th 2004 marked the 120th anniversary of the death of the famous Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. Where was he buried?"
Send your answers to the Radio Prague English Section, 120 99 Prague 2, the Czech Republic or by e-mail to [email protected]. You have until June 8 to get your answers to us.
