Press Review
Among the domestic topics in today's dailies the one that dominates is the likely candidacy of former Environment Minister and current Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvart for the post of Czech European Commissioner. The papers also pay a good deal of attention to a new clause in the labour code which defines sexual harassment as a criminal offence.
Pravo writes that Mr Kuzvart is to become the ruling coalition's candidate for EU commissioner. His nomination was announced yesterday by the Social Democrat leader Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. However, one of the other two parties in the coalition, the Christian Democrats continue to support their own candidate, a former judge with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Ivana Janu. The paper also quotes President Vaclav Klaus's response to Milos Kuzvart's potential nomination: "His candidacy is not a reason for me to go on a hunger strike," Mr Klaus tells Pravo.
On a similar note, the paper reports that the recently appointed director of Czech Television, Jiri Janecek, has apologised to the lottery company Sazka for a critical report on Sazka which Czech Television broadcast three years ago. Mlada Fronta Dnes writes that Sazka's general director, Ales Husak, has sued Czech Television repeatedly and even filed a complaint with the Czech TV supervisory council - but with no luck.
The paper adds that Mr Janecek's apology on behalf of Czech Television comes at a time when Czech TV is negotiating terms with Sazka under which it will air live broadcasts from the World Ice Hockey Championships in May. The event will take place in a newly built arena which belongs to the lottery giant. Until recently the company was demanding enormous amounts of money from Czech TV for renting it technical equipment in the ice hockey arena.
And finally, Lidove Noviny carries a long interview with the outspoken former Prime Minister and Social Democrat Milos Zeman. Mr Zeman, an unsuccessful rival of Vaclav Klaus in last year's presidential election, now a pensioner living in his country house in the Vysocina region, has words of praise for Mr Klaus as Czech president.
On the other hand, Mr Zeman calls his successor both in the Social Democrat Party and in the government, Vladimir Spidla, a sorry figure on the Czech political scene. Milos Zeman also says that for two years, Interior Minister Stanislav Gross has been the real head of the Social Democrats. "In my government Gross had to deal with security and crime and indeed, crime was on the decline," Mr Zeman says. "Now it's on the rise again because the Interior Minister is concerned with matters that are none of his business," Mr Zeman tells Lidove Noviny.
