PM: presidential elections were manipulated

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told Parliament on Wednesday he had proof that last year’s presidential elections were manipulated by people close to the opposition Social Democrats. The prime minister said that the people behind the manipulation were the former head of the intelligence service Karel Randák and Petr Dimun, who is currently head of PR in the Social Democratic Party. Mr. Topolánek said he was prepared to submit the evidence at a closed session of the lower house.

President Vaclav Klaus won a second term in office in last year’s presidential elections, beating challenger Jan Švejnar, a liberal economist backed by the Social Democrats and the Greens. At the time, the coalition and opposition accused each other of arm-twisting and underhand practices. Several deputies and senators received anonymous threats in the mail and a Social Democrat MP was expelled from his deputies’ group for voting with the other side. President Klaus on Wednesday refused to comment on the prime minister’s remarks.