Press Review

Naturally, all the papers are dominated by today's elections, the third attempt to elect a successor to Vaclav Havel. With the exception of Pravo, all of the dailies carry photos of the two candidates, Jan Sokol and Vaclav Klaus, on their front pages.

Let's go through the headlines: Pravo suggests the communists hold the key to electing Vaclav Klaus. Mlada Fronta Dnes' headline reads "Sokol does not have the votes of all Social Democrats", Hospodarske Noviny says it will be the discipline of the Social Democrats which will decide the new head of state, and the front-page headline in Lidove Noviny says that the communists will under no circumstances vote for Jan Sokol.

An editorial by Michal Musil in Lidove Noviny says this country really needs a president. Not only has the process of looking for a new head of state become tedious, but also with the crisis around Iraq deepening, the Czech Republic might soon find itself in the centre of events of international importance. At that time having no president might pose considerable problems, the editorial says.

Mr Musil goes on to say it is not time now for a direct election, but it might seem a better solution after what the country has gone through in recent weeks. The editorial also says that of the two candidates Vaclav Klaus is a better choice, but on two conditions: that he distances himself from his pre-election courting of the communists, and that he promises he will not behave cowardly if a war in Iraq starts, when the Czech Republic will have to show a decisive stand.

On a related topic, Mlada Fronta Dnes tries to guess where exactly the former president Vaclav Havel is spending his days now. Almost a week after Mr Havel's term ended, the ex-president and his wife left for a secret seaside destination. The paper suggests they might be in the Dominican Republic, but Mr Havel's personal secretary Jakub Hladik refuses to disclose any details. All he would say is that Vaclav Havel is resting, reading, taking walks and swimming in the sea.

But away from the presidential stories, and Mlada Fronta Dnes reports that the pilot who died when his L-159 jet crashed on Monday did not have to lose his life if the air force had heeded the warnings of experts. They suggested that trying to do a loop so low above the crests of the Brdy mountains with a fully loaded aircraft equalled suicide. Even the late pilot himself had said that the manoeuvre was extremely dangerous and that he would avoid doing it, writes Mlada Fronta Dnes.

The paper also quotes several military pilots, who wished to remain anonymous, as saying they would never perform the risky exercise in fear of an accident. The Chief of Staff Pavel Stefka refuses to comment on the accident before the investigation has finished, Mlada Fronta Dnes writes.

Pravo carries a story on rumours about a possible deployment of US soldiers in the Czech Republic. Inhabitants of the Central Bohemian town of Milovice are worried some US troops currently stationed in Germany might be relocated to their neighbourhood. For twenty-four years Milovice involuntarily hosted Soviet troops and, understandably, the locals feel they want no more soldiers around. But Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik told Pravo that no one had approached the Czech Army concerning the matter.