Archive: Domestic affairs | Political parties Political parties
Conservative figure Bátora quits Education Ministry post
Controversial activist Ladislav Bátora has announced he is leaving his
post at the Education Ministry. Earlier this year, his stint at the
ministry became a source of upheaval on the Czech political scene but Mr
Bátora was allowed to remain at the ministry in return for a promise he
would stay away from politics. But on Friday, Ladislav Bátora said he was
no longer willing to keep that promise and wanted to be actively engaged in
public life. Commentator Jiří Pehe thinks he is leaving after his goal
– getting public attention – was fulfilled. More
Analyst: new leftist political party could weaken Social Democrats
At one time Jiří Paroubek was one of the most influential politicians in
the country, both as prime minister and as leader of the Social Democratic
Party: but a poorer result than expected in the 2010 national election
spelt his end in the party’s top leadership. Now, the former Social
Democrat is moving to found a new party on the political Left, which could
provide voters with a new alternative. Earlier I discussed the project with
political analyst Vladimíra Dvořáková, who talked about the former party
leader’s possible motivation – as well as whether the new project can
be a success. More
Nečas ally appointed Agriculture Minister
The post of agriculture minister was filled this week as abruptly as it was
vacated with Thursday’s appointment of Civic Democrat Petr Bendl. A close
ally of the prime minister, Mr Bendl is an experienced hand in regional and
ministerial leadership, but his ties to agriculture are non-existent. More
Observers sceptical “announced” Roma political party will gain traction
Reports surfaced on Tuesday that a number of representatives of the Czech
Roma community are considering founding a new party focussing on Roma
issues, including how to tackle long-standing social problems and ethnic
tension between communities. Those have grown especially in North Bohemia
in recent weeks. While some, like notable sociologist Ivan Gabal have
praised the project so far – he told a national Czech newspaper such a
party could “change the atmosphere in Czech politics and improve the
social climate”, many others are sceptical, saying like parties before
it, this one too is unlikely to succeed. More
Minister Schwarzenberg accuses power giant ČEZ of secretly funding political parties
Foreign Minister, and coalition TOP 09 party leader Karel Schwarzenberg has
accused the state-controlled electricity firm ČEZ of bankrolling Czech
political parties. In an interview for the news-website aktualne.cz this
week, Mr Schwarzenberg said it was “a public secret” that ČEZ had
financed parties – except his own group, TOP 09. The serious accusations
– presented with no evidence or further details – were dismissed by
politicians across the board – with the notable exception of František
Bublan, a Social Democrat MP, and former Interior Minister and head of the
Czech intelligence service. But commentator Erik Best believes Mr
Schwarzenberg might have had his very own reasons for speaking out. More
Direct presidential election passed for further debate in lower house
A government proposal seeking direct, popular election of the Czech
president made it through the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday – a
significant success for an idea that lawmakers have dealt with eight times
already. Nevertheless, while the coalition and the opposition may have
reached a rare consensus for the time being, any such change to the
constitution remains fraught by the fact that each party envisions very
different conditions for popular elections, and many pundits and political
scientists see the popular issue as a non-starter. Professor Jiří Pehe of
New York University, for one, tells me the prospect of direct presidential
elections is science fiction. I asked him why. More
Latest government crisis leaves commentators baffled
A drawn-out government crisis over the controversial head of human
resources at the Czech Education Ministry has been resolved in a most
surprising way. Ladislav Bátora, the figure at the centre of the dispute,
who came under fire for his past links to the extreme Nationalist Party and
for insulting the foreign minister online, has not been sacked but is to be
relocated to the less visible but technically higher position of
vice-chancellor to the education minister. TOP 09 leader Karel
Schwarzenberg, who was insulted by the civil servant in question has
thanked Education Minister Josef Dobeš for his accommodating approach in
the matter, explained that his party’s firm stand was a matter of
principle in combating extremism and promised that the party’s ministers
would no longer boycott cabinet meetings. After two weeks of muscle-flexing
over the fate of a civil servant the government crisis is ostensibly over
– but it has left many people wondering what exactly the dispute was all
about. Radio Prague asked political analyst Petr Just for his take on one
of the most bizarre crises in Czech politics. More
Analyst: “Bátora affair” just pretext for government crisis
Ministers from the TOP 09 party made good on their promise on Wednesday and
boycotted a cabinet meeting in protest of the continued presence of the
controversial, highly-placed civil servant Ladislav Bátora at the
Education Ministry. The party has slammed the official for past ties to the
extremist National Party and for insults recently aimed at its leader,
Karel Schwarzenberg, indicating things won’t return to normal until Mr
Bátora is replaced. Some, however, argue that Mr Bátora is not the real
issue at all, and that the scandal is being exploited by TOP 09 for its own
political ends. More
Czech parties struggle to find roles for former leaders
The former leader of the Czech Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek has
announced plans to leave the party and establish a new political group.
Should his intentions materialize, he would be the second Social Democrat
leader to do so, after Miloš Zeman whose own political project caused
significant harm to the Social Democrats in the last general elections. But
in Czech politics, problems with former party leaders are not unusual. More
Right-wing parties willing to introduce some form of progressive taxation
Although on Wednesday the cabinet approved a draft budget for 2012
envisaging a deficit of 105 billion crowns, the right wing parties have not
given up pushing for an alternative proposal which would enable a more
drastic reduction of the public finance deficit to 95 billion crowns. In
order to give the latter proposal, envisaging a unified 19 percent VAT
rate, a new lease on life TOP 09 and the Civic Democratic Party have said
they are willing to consider the junior party Public Affairs’ demand for
progressive taxation – albeit indirectly and for a limited period of
time. Radio Prague asked Raiffeisen bank’s chief economist and former
finance minister Pavel Mertlík what he thinks is behind the unexpected
U-turn. More
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