Archive: Domestic affairs | Political parties Political parties
Discontent on streets as Czechs remember November 17th 1989
Czechs and Slovaks marked the 16th anniversary of the start of the 1989
Velvet Revolution on Thursday, a time when people remember the overthrow
of Communist rule and reflect on the changes that have swept society since
then. But discontent is growing with the current political situation, and
that discontent was reflected in the mood on the streets of Prague. Radio
Prague's Rob Cameron has this report.
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PM Jiri Paroubek: Communists no threat to democracy
Views expressed by politicians and participants of the gatherings in the
streets of Prague on Thursday do not necessarily reflect the overall mood
in Czech society. The Communist Party is the third strongest party in the
Czech Republic, a cause for alarm for some. For his part, the Czech Prime
Minister, Jiri Paroubek, has said the Communists are not a threat at all.
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Resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Martin Jahn a blow to Social Democrats
Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Martin Jahn is dominating the news
here in the Czech Republic, after announcing that he is to quit politics
by the end of the year. Not a member of any party, he denies he is
stepping down because the governing Social Democrats appear to be cozying
up to the Communists. But his departure is a blow to the Social Democrats:
Mr Jahn is seen as young, dynamic and relatively liberal and had been the
party's choice to stand in the next general elections in Prague, a bastion
of the right-of-centre Civic Democrats.
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Senate proposes to ban propagation of Nazism and Communism
The upper house of Parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would ban
propagation of Nazism and Communism in the Czech Republic. Anyone caught
violating the ban could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.
Although the bill stands little chance of becoming law, it has evoked many
questions: primarily why wasn't the issue confronted 16 years ago,
immediately after the fall of Communism.
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Filip takes over as Communist Party leader
Over the last 12 years few politicians have attracted more controversy than
the Communist Party's Miroslav Grebenicek. Every May 1st as party leader
it
was his rhetoric that whipped up angry crowds of mainly older Communist
sympathisers on Prague's Letna Plain. No more. At the weekend - nine
months ahead of parliamentary elections - Mr Grebenicek stepped down,
apparently in order to help his party attract new support. The new man at
the top is 50-year-old Vojtech Filip, long styled as Grebenicek's
successor. Is there any major difference? More
Prime Minister agrees to Unipetrol probe but on his own terms
The scandal over the privatization of the petrochemicals firm Unipetrol,
following accusations of corruption directed at the ruling Social
Democrats, has taken an unexpected turn. After firmly rejecting calls for
a probe into the privatization process, some of which came from his own
coalition partners the Christian Democrats, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek
suddenly changed his mind. An investigation will take place and it will
most likely take place on the Prime Minister's own terms.
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Are Czechs warming up to the Communists?
If elections were held today, opinion polls suggest, voters' support would
be almost equally divided between the left and the right side of the
political spectrum. Most leftist voters support the ruling Social
Democrats. The Communist Party also enjoys enough public support to be
represented in parliament - currently with the third largest number of
seats. But the Communists stand alone, as all other parties have vowed not
to cooperate with them. Results of an opinion poll commissioned by Czech
Television suggest that more and more Czechs are warming to the Communists
and four out of ten would actually not be against them taking a bigger part
in the decision-making process.
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The Green Party wants to play a bigger role in Czech politics
Somewhat in the shadow of high politics, the Czech Green Party elected a
new leader over the weekend and made bold plans for the future. Although
the party has never attracted enough voters to be able to enter the Lower
House of Parliament and has just one seat in the Senate, its new leader,
former environment minister Martin Bursik, feels that the time is now ripe
for the Greens to play a bigger role in Czech politics.
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Prime Minister tells the Christian Democrats to play ball or leave the Cabinet
Although general elections in the Czech Republic are eight months away,
this weekend marked the beginning of what commentators predict will be a
tough election campaign. The impulse came from the ruling Social
Democratic Party which held a meeting of its leadership over the weekend.
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Former PM Stanislav Gross bows out of politics
One of the political developments over the weekend was the decision by the
chairman of the Social Democrats and former prime minister Stanislav Gross
to step down. Mr Gross made the announcement at the party leadership
meeting on Saturday where he also said he was not even going to run for a
parliament seat in next year's general election.
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