Press Review
In the aftermath of the local and senate elections political parties are assessing their performance and seeking new allies. Although these negotiations are taking place behind closed doors, information is being leaked to the media by politicians themselves and most papers speculate about forthcoming changes on the Czech political scene.
PRAVO claims that the Social Democrats and the European Democrats headed by the former mayor of Prague Jan Kasl have found "a common language" and are sounding out the possibility of close cooperation at the Prague City Hall, at the expense of the right wing Civic Democrats whose influence would thus be marginalized.
The Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, the two smaller parties in the Czech governing coalition are both wracked by inner conflict after doing very badly in the elections. There is a feeling within the right wing Freedom Union that it made a mistake by trading its principles for a place in government, says LIDOVE NOVINY, and some members are now openly advocating a merger with the Civic Democrats, ironically the party from which the Freedom Union broke off five years ago. MLADA FRONTA DNES features a cartoon depicting a sinking boat with Freedom Union leader Ivan Pilip at the helm saying "It's a great little boat. Anyone want to give it a try?"
The Christian Democrats too are engaged in a hot dispute over who is to blame for their poor showing in the elections, writes today's PRAVO. The two factions within the party are waging an undeclared war - with regional organizations pitting their strength against the Prague management. As with the Freedom Union, there is no charismatic leader to unite the Christian Democrats, and several party members recall with nostalgia the days when the late Josef Lux was at the helm, adroitly giving the party a decisive say in Vaclav Klaus's cabinet. The need to settle with the country's communist past is an ongoing topic - and today's MLADA FRONTA DNES says that soon the authorities will have a much better idea of what really led to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and who collaborated with the invaders. The paper says that within two months the Kremlin will hand over a complete file of all documents pertaining to that time. It will be interesting to see what is in them, the paper says. Up to now the courts have never managed to gather sufficient evidence to send former communist leaders to jail for their part in the invasion.
Economy-wise there is some bad news for the Czech Republic - the international rating agency Standard and Poor's has lowered the country's credit rating. According to HOSPODARSKE NOVINY this slide is due to the government's unwillingness to reform the outdated system of public finances and the growing state deficit. LIDOVE NOVINY sees the new rating as "a slap in the face of the coalition government" and urges the Cabinet to take action before the country loses more credit.
And, finally, the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ordered the Czech Republic to pay 1 million crowns in damages to a Czech family whose house was returned to a former owner under the restitution process pertaining to property confiscated by the communist regime. The Pinc family bought the house in the 1960s for 16 thousand crowns after the state had confiscated it from its previous owner. After the fall of communism, the house was given back to the original owner, and the Pinc family was given no more in compensation than the original figure of 16 thousand crowns, now the equivalent of only about five hundred US dollars. Commentators in several of today's papers note that the verdict could set an important precedent.
