Wife of Jiří Paroubek sparks row with comments about women in coalition parties

The wife of former Czech prime minister Jiří Paroubek has sparked a row with comments she made about female members of parties in the recently formed coalition government. Petra Paroubková suggested the women had slept their way into high office in an SMS message she sent to reporters after losing a court case. Kristýna Kočí of Public Affairs said for her part she had gotten into politics thanks to the voters of her constituency. Public Affairs’ Kateřina Klasnová, who is deputy speaker of the lower house, recently married the party’s main financial backer, Vít Bárta, who is minister of transport. Both women appeared with female party colleagues in a “glamorous” calendar that has made international news. Regarding Petra Paroubková’s suggestion, Communist MP Miloslava Vostrá said if she was to reply in the same tone, then the former knew what she was talking about.