Press Review
No one story dominates Tuesday's Czech newspapers, though the end of Jan Kavan's term as president of the United Nations General Assembly does feature prominently everywhere. Mr Kavan tells LIDOVE NOVINY that he regards the passing of the UN's first ever resolution on the prevention of armed conflict as a great success.
MLADA FRONTA DNES leads with the story that Czechs do not regard any profession as more corrupt than the traffic police. One third of respondents in an opinion poll said traffic police were completely corrupt.
Meanwhile, in an interview for the same daily, the new justice minister, Karel Cermak, promises to increase the justice system's efforts to fight corruption. He is for the use of entrapment by undercover agents, an issue which has aroused some controversy. There is, however, no other effective way to fight corruption, says Mr Cermak.
The government has failed to keep promises it made after September 11, writes HOSPODARSKE NOVINY on its front page. Plans were announced to make sure the equipment in the country's 26,000 civil defence stores was in working condition. The reality two years later, says the paper, is that the stores are full of mouldy gasmasks and moth-infested clothing.
What's more, the Czech Republic's fire services are under funded and lack the resources to invest in up-to-date equipment and protective clothing. The head of the fire-fighters' union tells HOSPODARSKE NOVINY that their technical equipment is in a "desperate" state.
Vaclav Klaus was always going to be a hard act to follow as the leader of the Civic Democrats and, writes the same daily, his successor Mirek Topolanek is under threat from within the party, less than a year after being elected.
Mr Topolanek's term as a member of the Senate ends next autumn and he is not planning to stand again. He would then find himself without a position in parliament at the same time as he came up for re-election as head of the Civic Democrats. For that reason, it is in his interest to try and force early elections before then so as to increase his chances of remaining party leader, says HOSPODARSKE NOVINY.
Mr Topolanek's predecessor Vaclav Klaus has often expressed his distaste for humanitarian foundations but now he has become president he has founded his own, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES, quoting Monday's edition of the weekly EURO. The Livia and Vaclav Klaus Foundation is intended to support humanitarian and educational projects. Strangely, the president's press spokesman refused to comment on the foundation when contacted by the daily.
And finally MLADA FRONTA DNES carries a review of one of the most eagerly awaited Czech films of the year, Jedna ruka netleska, or One Hand Can't Clap. Produced by the same people behind the hugely popular Samotari - Loners in English - the film gets its premiere on Wednesday night. The review is on the whole positive though the paper's film critic says it was never going to meet all of the audience's expectations.
