Section Archive Current Affairs
Latest storm in coalition government leaves junior party weakened and divided
The storm that threatened to bring down the centre-right Czech government
appears to be over, but it has left Public Affairs, the junior coalition
party that started it, badly battered. As Public Affairs leaders went back
to the negotiating table to debate what appear to be face-saving
concessions, the smallest party in government fielded questions from
reporters about the deepening split in party ranks. More
New initiative calls for probe into links between politics and organized crime
A group of Czech NGOs has launched a new initiative to fight the uphill
battle against corruption in the Czech Republic. Entitled You Stole Our
Country, Give It Back, the initiative seeks to put Czech parliamentarians
under enough public pressure to allow for a thorough probe into alleged
links between politics and organized crime. The NGOs behind the new project
include the Czech Helsinki Committee, the Romany advocacy group Romea, the
student initiative Democracy Czech-Up as well as the Anticorruption
Endowment Fund. Radio Prague spoke to the fund’s founder, the businessman
and philanthropist Karel Janeček and asked him what the main goals were. More
Analyst: early elections not to advantage of any of the coalition parties
The latest flare-up between Public Affairs and the two senior parties Civic
Democrats and TOP 09 appears to have taken the continued existence of the
centre-right cabinet to the very brink. Are we close to early elections or
did the smallest party in government, in trying to gain concessions, simply
overplay its hand? More
Public Affairs put themselves and the government on the edge of collapse
The Czech government is teetering on collapse as the junior coalition
party, Public Affairs, has said it will pull out unless a number of major
concessions are met. Reactions to the demands from its coalition partners
were no less than furious, and even if the party backs down - as it has on
similar occasions – it seems that either the coalition or Public Affairs
itself will soon collapse under the tension. Christian Falvey has this
report: More
Merkel’s former academic boss: “Angela is what we call a constant of motion”
Angela Merkel’s current visit to Prague is the fifth since she became
German chancellor. But Ms Merkel often stayed in Prague even before she
entered politics. In the 1980s, she spent some time at the then
Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences where she worked at the department of
theoretical physics. Professor Rudolf Zahradník recalls the times when the
future German chancellor was a member of his team. More
German chancellor non-confrontational on EU fiscal compact during visit to Czech capital
On a brief working visit to the Czech Republic, German chancellor Angela
Merkel met with Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas and President Václav
Klaus in Prague on Tuesday. Two issues dominated the agenda: a new EU
fiscal compact that is being pushed by Germany as well as differing
approaches to energy policy in both countries. More
Major health care reforms take effect
Major changes to the health care system in the Czech Republic came about
this week when the government’s reform package took effect. Called the
biggest reform in the last 45 years, the aim is a redefinition of how
health care services are provided, and the role of the state, the facility
and the patient therein. More
Czech top court caps lucrative debt collecting business
The Czech Constitutional Court has delivered a breakthrough verdict which
aims to put an end to a much-criticized yet lucrative business that in
recent years has plagued the Czech Republic. The verdict dramatically
lowers the ceiling on the costs law firms can charge for collecting small
debts. That means they will no longer will able to inflate their fees which
often far exceeded the original debts. More
Public Affairs: new education minister will need manoeuvring room in face of difficult tasks
Finding a successor to outgoing Education Minister Josef Dobeš, who
resigned over planned budget cuts at the ministry, is seeing delays and
most definitely will not be sorted by the end of the month. The Public
Affairs party, headed by Radek John, wants assurances that Dobeš’
successor won’t be without options – arguing that extra funds should be
found so that teacher salaries are untouched. By contrast, others within
the centre-right coalition charge there is plenty of room within the
Education Ministry to save; in their view, slashing teachers’ salaries
should be far from necessary. More
In hockey league playoffs, Kometa Brno shine bright
In the Czech hockey league, the semifinals best-of seven series are under
way, with the Liberec White Tigers going ahead 2:1 against Pardubice on
Wednesday in some really nerve-wrecking action. In the other series,
however, Kometa Brno is set to surprise just about anyone including their
most devoted fans. Having finished 10th in the regular season, Kometa
knocked out the winners Sparta Prague. Now, the Brno side is leading the
regular season runners-up Plzeň 2:0. RP spoke to Czech TV commentator and
Philadelphia Flyers forward Martin Hosták about what made the playoffs’
underdogs the hottest candidates for the title. More
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