Press Review
The papers continue to report on the upcoming second attempt to elect a new Czech president. Most dailies write about what they call the behind-the-scene wheelings and dealings of the presidential candidates who are trying to rally votes across the political spectrum.
The papers continue to report on the upcoming second attempt to elect a new Czech president. Most dailies write about what they call the behind-the-scene wheelings and dealings of the presidential candidates who are trying to rally votes across the political spectrum.
LIDOVE NOVINY shows a photo of Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda proudly presenting a new slogan meant to persuade the Czech public to vote yes in the June referendum on EU accession. The slogan has only three letters - "ANO" - meaning "yes" in Czech. It is written in yellow on a blue backdrop and the letter "O" is made up of the yellow stars of the European Union flag.Staying with LIDOVE NOVINY, and the paper reports that the wife of President Vaclav Havel, Dagmar, is preparing a gala evening for the outgoing president, on January 30, in the historic National Theatre. Among the artists invited to entertain the outgoing statesman are pop-music singers Helena Vondrackova and Karel Gott. These two are the reason why another two artists, dissident musicians and friends of Vaclav Havel, Jaroslav Hutka and Vlasta Tresnak, have refused to take part in the programme.
The musicians did not specify what exactly they held against Ms Vondrackova and Mr Gott. It is known though that at the time when Mr Hutka and Mr Tresnak were harassed by the communist secret police and later forced to leave Czechoslovakia, Helenka and Kaja, how they are affectionately known by their Czech audiences, entertained communist politicians, travelled and enjoyed the perks of their status. LIDOVE NOVINY quotes Vlasta Tresnak as saying he can't come to the event because his stomach is not strong enough.
Moving on to MLADA FRONTA DNES, and the paper writes that passengers on the Prague metro are in danger because of faulty ventilation. The daily says that fire fighters have discovered defects in the renovated stations. Although the faults have no bearing on the normal running of the metro, should a fire break out the faulty system would not be able to extract smoke from the underground network.
The paper says the metro staff tried to conceal the facts, reassuring the fire fighters everything functioned well, but the deputy head of the Prague fire brigade Martin Dvorsky confirmed to MLADA FRONTA DNES that some of the suction fans were not working when they tested them because of damage sustained during last August's floods.
PRAVO says on its front page that crime is on the increase again in the Czech Republic after a decline in the last two years. At the same time the percentage of solved cases has dropped. Experts say the statistics can be influenced by a different method of data processing but the paradox is that the new mathematical model applied this time was expected to produce results proving a falling trend in crime.
Detectives confirmed for PRAVO that crime records are tampered with every time the Interior Minister, the police president or other high-ranking officials need to prove crime is decreasing for their own political purposes. This time their tactic did not work, a detective who wished to remain anonymous told PRAVO.
And finally on a related note, LIDOVE NOVINY reports on the government's plan to establish special criminal courts for children under fifteen years of age. If the bill is passed, under-fifteens who steal, rob or even murder, would be deprived of their impunity but would not go to prison. Instead they would have to take part in special re-socialising psychological or therapeutic programmes.