• Civic Democrats and Greens still arguing about course of elections
    02/17/2008

    Recriminations have continued between governing coalition parties the Civic Democrats, who backed Mr Klaus, and the Greens, who supported Mr Švejnar. Speaking on a live TV programme on Sunday, the Civic Democrats’ Pavel Bém reiterated criticism of the Greens’ late decision to support a public vote and their verbal attacks on the incumbent. The Green’s Kateřina Jacques countered that her party had changed its policy because of a meeting between the head of Mr Klaus’s office and a shady political fixer; she added that polls suggested most Czechs preferred a public vote.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Defeated presidential candidate Švejnar considering career in Czech politics
    02/17/2008

    Meanwhile, defeated presidential candidate Jan Švejnar has said he is considering a career in Czech politics. The US-based academic told TV presenter Václav Moravec he would not rule out standing for a seat in the Senate. Mr Švejnar was little known in the country of his birth three months ago but built up a considerable public profile during the election campaign.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Paroubek: No better time to push for direct vote for president
    02/17/2008

    The opposition Social Democrats say they will push for a direct vote for the post of president by the Czech electorate. The party’s leader Jiří Paroubek said on Sunday that in the light of public opinion there was no more opportune time to make the proposal. Many Czechs have been distinctly unimpressed by the horse-trading and alleged “mafia” tactics seen in two recent presidential elections. Direct elections for president are part of the Green Party’s manifesto, while the Communist Party would also support the idea, if there were a limit on campaign financing. The Civic Democrats and Christian Democrats are also willing to consider the proposal.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Army planes sent out after UAE plane strays into Czech air space
    02/17/2008

    Two Czech Army fighter jets were sent to establish contact with a passenger plane from the United Arab Emirates which accidentally strayed into Czech air space on Saturday morning, the news website Novinky.cz reported. Once contact had been made with the plane, which was bound for London, the two Czech Gripen jets returned to their base at Časlav, an army spokesperson said on Sunday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Vandals damage gorilla enclosure at Prague Zoo
    02/17/2008

    Vandals damaged the gorilla enclosure at Prague Zoo on Saturday night. They evidently got in to the enclosure over a frozen moat, before throwing about rubbish bins, signs and other items which had been nearby, a zookeeper said. The gorillas do not use the run in winter so the attack did not endanger their lives, unlike a previous occasion when somebody threw apples studded with nails into their enclosure. The gorillas are among Prague Zoo’s most popular animals and were the focus of the world’s media during a project in which they were constantly monitored by cameras in a parody of “reality” TV.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Lowest temperature of year recorded in Šumava
    02/17/2008

    A temperature of minus 22 degrees Celsius was recorded at Horská Kvilda in the Šumava Mountains on Sunday morning. It was the lowest temperature recorded in the Czech Republic this year. A meteorologist told reporters Horská Kvilda can experience lows below minus 30 degrees, adding that this winter has been unusually warm.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Klaus to serve second five-year term as Czech president
    02/16/2008

    Václav Klaus has been re-elected Czech president. On Friday Mr Klaus (66) received 141 votes in the third round of what was the second attempt in a week to elect a new president. The incumbent received the backing of his own Civic Democrats, most Christian Democrat legislators and some others. US-based academic Jan Švejnar, mainly supported by the Social Democrats and the Greens, received 111 votes. Mr Klaus, a right of centre Euro-sceptic, will be sworn in at the beginning of next month, when his current five-year term ends.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Television: record audience watched election live
    02/16/2008

    Czech Television said a record 1.37 million people had watched the presidential election live on Friday afternoon. The public broadcaster’s digital channel CT24 also saw high audience figures: 3.1 percent of the TV audience watched its broadcasts, which were the same as on the terrestrial station CT1. Czech Television has won plaudits for its comprehensive and uninterrupted coverage of both elections.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Demonstration held against transportation of snow for ski event
    02/16/2008

    Around 100 people have demonstrated against the transporting of snow to Vesec near Liberec for a stage of the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup. Organisers of the meeting built a 1.9-kilometre track at Vesec with snow taken from the Jizera Mountains; they face possible sanctions for damaging a protected area. Those protesting at the World Cup event at Vesec on Saturday also expressed their disagreement with plans to hold the Nordic World Ski Championships there next year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Bauer comes second in Vesec, increasing overall lead
    02/16/2008

    Meanwhile, the Czech skier Lukáš Bauer finished second in an 11.4-kilometre race at Vesec on Saturday, just 12 seconds behind the winner Jean Marc Gaillard of France. That result means Bauer’s overall lead in this season’s World Cup again increased; it would now take a real upset for the 30-year-old from Ostrov nad Ohří not to win the title. But Bauer will have to finish the season on new skis – the ones he was wearing on Saturday were destroyed by stones on the frozen course in Vesec.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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