Party members attack Social Democrat leadership in manifesto

Members of the Social Democratic Party have put forward a manifesto calling for change in the party’s direction, the daily Právo has reported. The so-called Vyšehrad Proclamation, signed by Social Democrats Karel Šplíchal and Erazim Kohák among others, protests what the signatories refer to as excessive focus in the party on marketing and trading in top slots on the party’s ballot for early elections this autumn. Party leader Jíři Paroubek was under fire recently for pushing popular public figures to the top of the party’s lists of candidates. The Social Democrats were defeated by their main rivals the Civic Democratic Party in elections to the European Parliament in June.