News Saturday, JUNE 26th, 1999

Radio Prague Enews Date: 26.6.1999 Written/read by: David Vaughan

Hello and a warm welcome to Radio Prague. I'm David Vaughan. First the Czech headlines.

And now the news in more detail.

Electoral reform

The ruling Social Democrats have come a step closer to agreement on significant changes to the electoral system. Members of parliament for the party have agreed to proposals by the second strongest force in parliament, the right-wing Civic Democrats to increase the number of constituencies to thirty-six. If the decision is confirmed and approved by parliament it will bring the country far closer to a first-past-the-post system, significantly reducing the role of smaller parties in parliament. The two largest parties agreed last July that they would work together for electoral reform, after elections resulted in a Social Democrat minority government. Smaller parties have accused their two larger rivals of trying to create a political monopoly in the country.

Local elections

Saturday's local elections in nineteen Czech towns and villages and one district of Prague were characterised in most areas by a low turnout. The polls were held in places where last autumn's local elections had failed to result in a workable coalition, or where political disputes had led local councillors to resign. As final results came through no single political party emerged as dominant, although the right-of-centre Civic Democrats won the largest number of individual seats. In the most closely followed poll in the South Bohemian city of Ceske Budejovice, the two largest parties both saw their position weakened. Reflecting a trend seen in opinion polls at a national level, the Social Democrats lost several seats in the city council to the Communists. The Civic Democrats remained the strongest force in the city, but also lost two seats.

Prime Minister defends anti-corruption campaign

Prime Minister Milos Zeman has defended his government's "clean hands" campaign against economic corruption, although its first year has not led to a single successful conviction. Mr Zeman said that over eight hundred suspected cases had been mapped out, and that criminal charges had been recommended on over two hundred occasions. The Prime Minister acknowledged that the campaign had come up against bureaucratic hurdles, but he added that if the government were to interfere in the work of courts and investigators it would be a dangerous, undemocratic precedent.

Social Democrats admit to imperfections

The Social Democrat leadership has acknowledged that the party has been slow in fulfilling some of its electoral promises during its first year in government. The parliamentary party leader, Stanislav Gross, said that they should have acted more assertively in certain areas. Prime Minister Zeman pointed to a number of bills that have not yet gone to parliament, including a bill to establish a special police force against financial crime, and a bill that would force the better off to declare their property.

Doubts about Nato

The deputy leader of the Civic Democrats and one of the country's most high-profile opposition politicians, Miroslav Macek, has called into question the success of NATO's campaign in Yugoslavia. Speaking on the private television station Nova, he said it would have been better if local politicians and residents had been left to resolve the conflict themselves, even at the price of further bloodshed. He said that no solution could be imposed from outside. On the same television programme the deputy chair of the Czech parliament and Social Democrat, Petra Buzkova, defended the NATO intervention, saying that otherwise Albania and Macedonia would almost certainly have been dragged into the conflict.

Coca-Cola scare

The soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has assured Czech consumers that they have nothing to fear from the latest Belgian food scare that has led to its products being removed from the shelves in a number of European countries. The firm said that the Czech Republic does not import any Coca-Cola products or components from Begium, and that the entire production process in the Czech Republic is closely monitored. Food inspectors confirmed that they have so far not registered any cases of defective Coca-Cola products being imported into the country.

Weather

And a quick look at the weather...

Over the next few days we can expect it to be a good deal cooler than of late, with a cold front coming from the north-west and temperatures between 14 and 18 degrees Celsius. Skies will be cloudy with the occasional shower.

Preview

And I'll end with a glance at some things coming up today...

The Macedonian President will be meeting his Czech counterpart in Prague, at the launch of a state visit to the Czech Republic, Prague police are to attend a ceremony where they'll be officially presented with a special new tool to make their work easier - the bicycle, and in London Jana Novotna will begin her battle to overcome recent poor form and defend her coveted Wimbledon title.

But for the time being that's all from the newsroom.