Social Democrats accuse ruling party of playing mind games

The opposition Social Democrats have accused the ruling party of playing mind games and trying to undermine the party’s unity ahead of the elections. Michal Hašek of the Social Democrats said the media had contacted party deputies to inquire about an alleged “list of renegades” who were prepared to break party ranks and vote for Vaclav Klaus in next week’s presidential election. The said list was to have been compiled by the ruling Civic Democratic Party which has nominated Mr. Klaus for the post. Deputy Hašek said he was certain that all Social Democrats deputies and senators would support the party’s own nominee Jan Švejnar and suggested that the Civic Democrats were merely creating a smoke screen to cover up the fact that they had “bought” Christian Democrat votes in return for an agreement on the restitution of church property.