News

The lower house of Parliament has approved a series of tax cuts which will primarily benefit people whose monthly income is below 30 thousand crowns. The bill was approved unanimously, although the opposition Civic Democrats criticized the ruling coalition for not effecting tax cuts which would benefit higher income groups as well. Finance minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the measure would affect 90 percent of all tax payers and would reduce income into state coffers by an estimated ten billion crowns. Approximately four million people who make under 30 thousand crowns a month would save around four thousand crowns per year, higher income groups are expected to save less money. The bill has yet to be approved by the Senate.

The chairman of the Lower House Lubomir Zaoralek on Tuesday unveiled a deputies' Code of Ethics to the assembly but was challenged by senior members of the opposition Civic Democratic Party who said the move was an empty gesture and Zaoralek himself was untrustworthy. The proposed code is meant to set an ethical framework for relations between politicians and lobbyists, the acceptance of gifts by public figures and the practice of hiring family members as assistants. The Civic Democrats said they were willing to engage in a serious debate only if Mr. Zaoralek defended his own reputation first, apologized to the public for "his excessive use of government helicopters" and explained how he had hired his own assistants.

Senior officials from the ruling Social Democratic Party have called fugitive billionaire Radovan Krejcir a liar and coward for his claim that he had lent the party 60 million crowns (roughly 2.4 million US dollars) in return for a promise to help him obtain ownership of a state company. They also dared Mr Krejcir to file a libel suit in the Czech Republic. The Social Democrats have taken the view that Mr Krejcir aimed to intentionally harm their reputation, and coordinated their response. Krejcir who fled to the Seychelles in June is wanted for conspiracy to murder, extensive fraud and money forgery. Extradition efforts floundered after it became clear Mr Krejcir - and his family - had obtained citizenship in the Seychelles a few years ago.

A new poll has suggested that Czech assessment of the functioning of the government and the Czech Parliament is at its highest since 2003. The poll, conducted by the STEM agency, found that 43 percent of respondents were satisfied with Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's cabinet while some 36 percent assessed as positive the workings of Parliament. The last time the Czech government enjoyed similar public support was in the year 2003 but also the summer of 2002 when the Czech Republic was hit by widespread floods.

The new STEM poll also gauged public support for the country's president, Vaclav Klaus: he was rated positively by some 72 percent of respondents.