Press Review
The papers are dominated today by the weekend's groundbreaking elections in neighbouring Austria, which saw the conservative People's Party clinching victory for the first time in 35 years. Meanwhile Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party scored one of its worst ever results, losing almost two-thirds of its voters. "Haider Loses Election" says MLADA FRONTA DNES, summing things up nicely.
The papers are dominated today by the weekend's groundbreaking elections in neighbouring Austria, which saw the conservative People's Party clinching victory for the first time in 35 years. Meanwhile Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party scored one of its worst ever results, losing almost two-thirds of its voters. "Haider Loses Election" says MLADA FRONTA DNES, summing things up nicely.
Back at home, and there's also an election looming for the Czech Republic; in January the two houses of parliament meet to choose a successor to President Vaclav Havel. But as MLADA FRONTA DNES reports, efforts by the ruling Social Democrats to eliminate one of their own candidates - the former Prime Minister Milos Zeman - appear to have backfired.
In October the party leadership launched what it described as a "referendum", asking the public to decide who the Social Democrats should nominate for the post. The party leadership were horrified at the prospect of Mr Zeman becoming president, his boorish manner and cruel wit being at odds with the party's slick new image. But they were apparently afraid to say so openly, and chose the rather cowardly tactic of letting the public have the last word instead.
Unfortunately, says MLADA FRONTA DNES, Mr Zeman's supporters seem to have been far better mobilised than those of the other three candidates, and according to one unnamed Social Democrat official the former PM has won. The results - to be announced on Friday - are not binding, meaning the leadership can choose whoever they like. But it will be an embarrassment for Prime Minister Spidla if Mr Zeman does emerge the winner.
Staying with politics, and LIDOVE NOVINY reports on protests in the north Moravian town of Havirov this weekend, in the wake of the formation of yet another local coalition between Social Democrats and Communists. Thanks to the agreement, Havirov now has a Communist mayor, something which hasn't gone down well with the city's right-wing councillors.
A group of right-wing protestors held up mock-Communist banners at the council meeting, one of which reads "We Will Fulfil The Bohumin Resolution" - a reference to the Social Democrats' Bohumin conference of 1995, when the party approved a resolution banning co-operation with the Communists at national level.
Interestingly enough, on the next page LIDOVE NOVINY traces the thousands of Communist flags, busts and pictures once proudly displayed in town halls and offices up and down the country. Where has all this stuff gone? asks the paper. The answer: underground.
LIDOVE NOVINY says the cellars and basements of town halls throughout the Czech Republic have been turned into veritable treasure troves of Communist kitsch. "Go down into the basement of any town hall" says one self-declared cellar expert, "and it's like stepping back in time. They're full of red flags and busts of Marx and Lenin." The paper says one day these symbols of times past could become valuable antiques.
And finally PRAVO speaks to some of the policemen drafted in from far away to police the streets of Prague for the NATO summit. Many came from Ostrava in north Moravia, and they're looking forward to going back home. "It went better than we could ever imagine," says one. "Not one broken window, not one drop of blood. Not a single policeman or demonstrator was hurt," he says, adding that he's now looking forward to a bottle of wine with his wife and having a long lie-in.
