Archive: Domestic affairs | Regional politics Regional politics
Civic Democrats issue new policy document in bid to stem loss of support
While their 22 percent showing in the last parliamentary elections was
enough to put the Civic Democrats at the head of a coalition government, it
was still their worst result ever. Today things look even grimmer for the
long-term dominant force on the Czech right, with one recent poll
suggesting their support stands at a meagre 9 percent. With parliamentary,
Senate, European and local elections all due next year, Petr Nečas’s
party are now trying to fight back, on Monday launching a policy document
targeting small business people. But can the Civic Democrats’ new
strategy help revive their fortunes? That’s a question I put to
journalist and political analyst Jindřich Šídlo. More
Analyst: current government has decayed trust in system, helping the Communists
Twenty-three years ago the Velvet Revolution swept the Communists from
power in former-Czechoslovakia but today in the Czech Republic they are
doing better than anytime over the last two decades. On Tuesday, regional
members of the party in Ústí agreed on the first communist governor with
their Social Democrat counterparts. More
Social Democrats triumph in senate elections, deepening government crisis
The second round of Senate elections over the weekend dealt another blow to
the centre-right coalition government. The left-wing parties boosted their
dominant position in the upper chamber even gaining a constitutional
majority which bodes ill for government reforms as the three ruling parties
now struggle to maintain a razor-sharp majority in the lower house. More
Weary voters go to polls for regional, Senate elections
The Czech Republic goes to the polls this weekend, with voters choosing
members of the country’s regional assemblies as well as one third of the
seats in the upper house, the Senate. Opinion polls suggest the parties of
the centre-right government will receive something of a drubbing, whilst
analysts are concerned at the prospect of an extreme right party winning a
regional assembly seat for the first time. More
Candidates prepare for regional and Senate elections
Tuesday marked the final day that candidates could register for regional
and Senate elections this autumn. Candidates will contest 27 seats in the
Senate, while others will vie for posts in 13 regional assemblies. More
Political pundit: Abolishing three ministries merely attempt at distracting attention from government’s real problems
Talks between the ruling government coalition’s Civic Democrats and
junior partner Public Affairs on Thursday failed to produce a solution to
disputes within the coalition. However, the senior Civic Democrats are
considering reducing the number of ministries by three, one of the
conditions posed by Public Affairs, which earlier this week threatened to
quit the coalition should its demands not be met. But is the step to merge
the culture, environment and regional development ministries with other
existing ministries a sensible one? We put the question to political pundit
Jiří Pehe. More
Towns get new powers in fighting air pollution
The lower house of parliament on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill
which will provide local administrations with the means to fight air
pollution more effectively. In the event of a smog alert mayors can order
the biggest pollutants to scale down production, ban high-emissions cars
from city centres and scrap toll on ring roads in order to reduce the
amount of traffic. Town mayors and environment activists had long been
pushing for the amendment and Radio Prague asked Vojtěch Kotecký from
Friends of the Earth how effective he thinks it will be in practice. More
Top court rejects complaint against gerrymandering in Prague’s local elections
The Czech Constitutional Court dismissed on Tuesday a complaint by three
political parties contesting last October’s local elections in the
capital. Public Affairs, the Green and the European Democrat parties argued
the elections were unfair due to gerrymandering, dividing Prague into seven
districts, which diminished their prospects at the polls. The court said
however the parties failed to prove the division was intended to hurt their
chances.
More
Towns want controversial powers to deal with transients and petty criminals
Mayors from 51 communities across the Czech Republic met this week to
discuss problems their constituencies are having with transients, loiterers
and petty criminals, most of whom the towns say are Roma. The result was a
letter to the government asking for greater local authority to dissuade and
punish problematic citizens. The specific measures though are
controversial. More
Pavel Kohout: unconventional economist and government advisor
Pavel Kohout is an economist who seems seldom out of the media. He recently
created a stir when he announced he was leaving the government’s advisory
committee, NERV, and criticised government willingness to tackle
multi-billion crown corruption in public tenders. That furore appears to
have blown over and Mr. Kohout seems on course to give further advice to
the government and the new political party, Public Affairs. I asked him how
he got involved in economics in the first place. More
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