News

The Supreme Administrative Court has upheld a previous decision finding that the energy company ČEZ must provide information in accordance with freedom of information laws. The court thus agreed with the complaint of a civic association which has been attempting to acquire documentation on the fuel the company uses for several years. ČEZ considers the court’s decision a violation of its equal rights in relation to other companies on the free market; the court however found that the electricity giant meets the criteria of a public institution, established by the state, which also has a majority share in it.

The senior coalition party, the Civic Democrats, suffered a major defeat in weekend’s local elections. The party lost most cities, including Brno, Ostrava, Liberec and the capital Prague. There, another collation party, the conservative TOP 09 won with over 31 percent of the vote, followed by the Civic Democrats with 23 percent, and the Social Democrats with just below 18 percent of the vote. The Civic Democrats lost in the capital for the first time since the fall of communism. Another coalition party, Public Affairs, also suffered a defeat, only gaining several hundred municipal posts nationwide.

Overall, various local groups of independent candidates won the highest number of council positions. The turnout in the municipal elections was over 48 percent, slightly higher than in the previous vote four years ago.

Leaders of the Civic and Social Democrats have called on their supporters to come out and vote in the second round of the Senate elections. The head of the Civic Democrats, Prime Minister Petr Nečas, said that in order for the reforms to continue, the Senate should remain in the hands of the right-of-centre coalition; for his part, Social Democrat party leader Bohuslav Sobotka said the second round is an opportunity to gain a left-wing majority in the Senate which would force the government to negotiate its planned reforms with the opposition. Should the Social Democrats win 12 or more seats in the upper house, they could delay the implementation of the government’s austerity measures. However, the coalition has enough votes in the lower house to overturn any veto coming from the Senate.

In other news: no one has responded to the offer of 3.5 million crowns, or nearly 200,000 US dollars, made by the father of a nine-year-old girl who went missing in Prague on Wednesday. The father offered the money as ransom to potential kidnappers although it’s not clear whether the girl had in fact been kidnapped. The police continue searching for the girl who was last seen in the Prague district of Troja on Wednesday; her bag was later found en route from school to her home. The police have notified the Interpol and stepped up checks at Czech airports. Many volunteers have also joined in the search for the missing girl.