News

Organisers have opted to go ahead with a competition in cross country skiing’s Tour de Ski in Nové Město na Moravě on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, despite the fact snow conditions are currently poor at the Moravian resort. The decision was made after talks with a representative of the International Ski Federation. The weather forecast for Christmas Eve is for freezing weather, which should make it possible to cover at least the sprinters track with artificial snow. The programme of the Tour de Ski competition will be set according to snow conditions on December 31. A Tour de Ski sprint competition will also take place at Prague’s Výstaviště on December 29.

Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek claims that he has enough votes to pass a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Topolanek’s centre-right government. The comments were made during a press conference on Monday, in which Mr Paroubek threatened to call for the motion if the Civic Democrat controlled Senate attempted to reverse health-fee concessions passed last week by the lower house. The Social Democrat leader said that if health fee reductions are meddled with without Social Democrat consultation, the current government would fall. Mr Paroubek did not elaborate on which deputies would support him. The Social Democrats and the Communists currently have 97 votes in the 200-member lower chamber, while the governing coalition has 96. The remaining seven are independent deputies and coalition rebels who could swing either way. Four previous no-confidence votes called by the Social Democrats have failed.

A group which seeks greater female involvement in Czech politics has concluded that male attitudes present a major stumbling block to female advancement. The group, entitled “Forum 50%” seeks to reverse the fact that the Czech Republic has one of the lowest male-to-female ratios of women in politics in the developed world. At present, women make up only 15.5 percent of MPs in the lower house of Parliament, and 17.3 percent of the senate. According to Lenka Bennerová, a representative of Forum 50%, women are often treated rudely, belittled and even mocked when attempting to present legislation. The forum attempts to empower women by educating them in effective strategies to combat such prejudices.

A new poll from the CVVM company has found that mass disaffection with Czech politics persists. According to their findings, only 11 percent of Czechs are content with the current state of Czech politics. Conversely, the Czech president Václav Klaus retains the trust of sixty percent of Czechs, according to the survey. However, the Czech president’s numbers are down three percent from the previous month and are at their lowest since March. Local and regional representatives retain their traditional position at the top of the trust ladder, with 63 percent of respondents satisfied. Meanwhile, confidence in the Czech government remains the same as a prior CVVM poll, with 27 percent expressing faith in its abilities.