http://radio.cz/en Latest articles on 'Domestic affairs' - current affairs in the Czech Republic en Fri, 25 May 2012 15:36:17 +0200 Fri, 25 May 2012 15:36:17 +0200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Radio Prague CMS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Radio Broadcasting cr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas) webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) http://radio.cz/en/article/148152 A former public transport worker – found guilty of defacing public property – was released from prison on Thursday, 67 days short of his 100-day sentence. The justice minister had filed a complaint in the man’s favour in the hope that the court would determine once and for all whether defacing a campaign poster constitutes a crime or just a misdemeanour. His release may only be temporary, pending the decision. Fri, 25 May 2012 15:36:17 +0200 urn:uuid:b00d10c3-cc23-5e59-91ff-eaa913524906 http://radio.cz/en/article/148087 The Parliamentary Committee on Mandates and Immunity on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend MP David Rath be stripped of immunity and prosecuted for corruption. After a two-hour meeting with Dr Rath, and studying part of the police evidence against him, the parliamentarians were unconvinced of his claims of a conspiracy against him and his not knowing he had received a box full of bribery money. Many of them shared new details of the arrest, evidence and the condition of the fallen governor himself. Wed, 23 May 2012 15:52:10 +0200 urn:uuid:aff48a61-97bf-5c84-bbf9-8b662d45294d http://radio.cz/en/article/148049 Czech farmers on Wednesday will be taking part in a planned protest against the government’s decision to slash tax refunds on biofuel. The move by the government – part of broad austerity measures – is expected to leave agricultural producers in difficult spot: some 1.5 billion crowns lighter. The protest will see hundreds of farmers roll out their tractors on roads across the country, with the exception of highways and the Czech capital. Tue, 22 May 2012 15:42:25 +0200 urn:uuid:2d7bc030-4a6b-5d56-93a4-8d63f49f6c23 http://radio.cz/en/article/148028 Amidst growing public support, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia elected a new leadership at a party congress in Liberec at the weekend. The re-election of the pragmatic incumbent chair, Vojtěch Filip, reflects the dilemma the party faces: modernization could rob it of support by communist hardliners while a more radical approach would make it unappealing to the growing numbers of voters disillusioned with the centre-right Czech government. Mon, 21 May 2012 15:38:56 +0200 urn:uuid:13e0b59b-d05c-53e4-b741-d58b0f241595 http://radio.cz/en/article/147937 The Czech Constitutional Court has upheld the government’s tax on solar power, introduced retroactively last year in an effort to cool the solar boom in the country. Photovoltaic firms complain the tax damages their business while foreign investors into the business are threatening to initiate international arbitrations against the country. But the court said their interests cannot be superimposed over those of Czech citizens. Thu, 17 May 2012 16:13:42 +0200 urn:uuid:932d9a07-b83d-5fac-891c-9e71477fabbd http://radio.cz/en/article/147907 As Czechs are slowly digesting the shocking case of the Social Democrat politician David Rath, more details emerge about his arrest and the crime he allegedly committed. The opposition MP and governor of Central Bohemia was arrested on Monday with seven million crowns in his possession. While Mr Rath maintains his innocence, he has been charged with corruption, and remains in detention. Wed, 16 May 2012 15:27:05 +0200 urn:uuid:318005cc-fefb-5145-93e5-a309b87d8dc1 http://radio.cz/en/article/147880 One of the most prominent figures of the opposition Social Democratic party, MP and Central Bohemian governor David Rath has been charged with corruption. Mr. Rath was arrested on Monday night along with seven other people in a large-scale police operation that is believed to be linked to abuse of EU funds. Tue, 15 May 2012 15:38:44 +0200 urn:uuid:02503cc3-0410-5beb-929e-7671f1b39703 http://radio.cz/en/article/147858 The Czech government has announced its decision to dump a costly electronic health records project launched ten years ago. The project which was to facilitate communication between doctors regarding treatment of individual patients failed to get off the ground properly and was frequently criticized for lack of transparency. Mon, 14 May 2012 15:42:46 +0200 urn:uuid:0a525a0d-708a-50a5-ba8d-9c130b4ee92c http://radio.cz/en/article/147741 Czech lawmakers have been consistently criticized for being prone to lobbying, for instance when it comes to the regulation of gambling, roadside advertising and smoking in public spaces. As part of its efforts to clamp down on corruption, the Czech government is now working on a bill that should regulate lobbying. If approved, this law would define lobbying and require lobbyists to register. RP discussed the proposed legislation with James de Candole, a Prague-based consultant and lobbyist, who believes it will bring no significant improvements. Wed, 09 May 2012 16:37:11 +0200 urn:uuid:9fb63683-a96f-5f38-97d5-b6ac06e930b8 http://radio.cz/en/article/147638 Less than a year before Czechs take to the polls to directly elect their president for the first time in history, some of the major political parties have begun choosing their candidates. However, both the ruling Civic Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats seem to struggle with the process: the former party’s most hopeful candidate quit the race before it even began, while one of the latter party’s picks is hesitant to run for them. Commentator Erik Best says this reflects the parties’ mixed feelings about direct presidential elections in the first place. Fri, 04 May 2012 15:47:52 +0200 urn:uuid:28227f63-9ce4-5e9c-9149-e05bb3e63ac4 http://radio.cz/en/article/147609 The Czech Republic will see another round of protests against the government’s austerity measures. Agriculture industry leaders on Wednesday announced they would block roads and slow traffic in protest of plans to cancel tax rebates on diesel for agricultural firms, and a planned introduction of a tax on wine. Thu, 03 May 2012 16:35:14 +0200 urn:uuid:5098338c-d7be-5bef-ae7e-cc29261de8e2 http://radio.cz/en/article/147572 The long-vacant post of Minister of Education, Youth and Sports has been taken up by Petr Fiala, political scientist and former chancellor of Masaryk University in Brno. Currently the science advisor to the prime minister and a political independent, Dr Fiala has been roundly praised as an excellent choice to lead a ministry facing an exceptional number of hurdles. Wed, 02 May 2012 16:03:39 +0200 urn:uuid:6ad92a24-558a-5ed8-8a75-48d9c8a3e5e5 http://radio.cz/en/article/147533 The Czech government has survived a vote of confidence in the lower house of Parliament. On Friday, 105 out of 198 deputies voted in its support. The vote revealed that besides the Civic Democrat and TOP 09 parties, the cabinet can also rely on those deputies who quit the Public Affairs party, and at least three MPs who remained members of the former junior coalition partner, which now sees itself as “constructive opposition”. But despite the safe majority in the lower house, the centre-right cabinet might now find it harder to push through some of its reforms bills, according to analyst Jiří Pehe. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:20:42 +0200 urn:uuid:c7c644cd-8b6d-5d3c-9364-2c3b921a1ab6 http://radio.cz/en/article/147476 Addressing the lower house ahead of a confidence vote in his centre right government on Friday Prime Minister Petr Necas asked deputies for support in the interest of pressing ahead with key reforms which would lead to stability and prosperity in the future. Professor Vladimira Dvorakova says that before this objective can be achieved –by this government or any other – the country will need to deal with its biggest problem: corruption and a lack of political ethics. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:09:48 +0200 urn:uuid:6b03a214-5e6b-58ee-9d77-2209bc2f1bf7 http://radio.cz/en/article/147442 Half-way through the government’s term in office Czechs are so fed up with political infighting and corruption scandals that 80 percent of them now support early elections. For this week’s Panorama I spoke to Jan Hartl head of the STEM polling agency about the mood of the public, what people think of Czech politicians and whether the developments of the past few months have robbed them of any illusions they may have had regarding politics. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:08:14 +0200 urn:uuid:d40f77f5-24bc-51e8-8840-21dccc6f2387 http://radio.cz/en/article/147439 Just two years ago the name Karolína Peake was known to few people outside of the issue of playgrounds in Prague 1. Today she’s the keystone in the fractured coalition government. Last week, the 36-year-old deputy prime minister caused an upheaval in the government when she abandoned the junior coalition party Public Affairs, of which she has been a member since 2007, and took eight of the party’s MPs with her. The result of the split has been the departure of Public Affairs from government to the opposition, and a wafer-thin majority in Parliament for the centre-right reform parties. That majority is based entirely on the newly emerging party around Mrs. Peake, which at present can only be called the Public Affairs defectors. Is this the start of a new political organisation with long-term goals, or a quick fix intended to allow the government to ride out the next two years, that’s the first question we put to Karolína Peake on Thursday. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:31:44 +0200 urn:uuid:8cdd69ea-4e51-57c0-a8e6-af02f631b6b3 http://radio.cz/en/article/147398 Czech trade unions have decided that their show of force in mass demonstrations needs muscle. The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions says that tripartite negotiations with the government are over and it’s time for a new protest which, as their chairman Jaroslav Zavadil said, is going to hurt. Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:29:28 +0200 urn:uuid:528ca53d-8f89-5a0c-aa21-4f13d040933d http://radio.cz/en/article/147370 The ruling coalition that won an unprecedented majority in the last elections is a thing of the past. On Tuesday, the Public Affairs party, decimated by the recent departure of a number of former members, left the government. The centre-right cabinet now faces a vote of confidence to test the strength of its support in the lower house. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:40:23 +0200 urn:uuid:9139880a-6440-5215-b51d-8eef0f70cc54 http://radio.cz/en/article/147377 Although opinion polls indicate that the vast majority of Czechs would like to see early elections, embattled Prime Minister Petr Nečas has decided to try and weather the latest crisis and will ask the lower house for a vote of confidence in his government on Friday. Amidst speculation that he may end up with a razor sharp majority, political analysts are questioning the wisdom of trying to hold onto power at any cost. Radio Prague spoke to Jiři Pehe about the repercussions this might have but - first and foremost - the legitimacy of this new political set-up. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:40:23 +0200 urn:uuid:2e2fdfcf-5373-536d-82c1-d3d12774e113 http://radio.cz/en/article/147346 This weekend saw thousands join an anti-government protest in Prague calling for an end to the current government and its reform policies, which critics call unnecessarily strict. The trade union-led demonstration saw as many as 100,000 people come out - with the promise that unless the government paves the way for early elections, protests will only be more intense. Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:33:02 +0200 urn:uuid:4aaeb39b-5e38-5911-b95b-48e96abf7897