Czech press survey - February 23

The bet on mistrust is of a large weight in this country. No one believes anyone and no one trusts God, Navara writes.

Many leftist politicians, but not only them, have made the crusade against the return of property to churches their battle-cry because God is an enemy in the Czech Republic, he adds.

It is right that Prime Minister Petr Necas has signed the agreements that were properly agreed on and drafted. It will be also right that the court will decide independently on the deal, Navara writes.

Undoubtedly, the US is not in a good position as it lacks three out of its 15 judges, while soon others will leave as their terms of office expire, he adds.

Both those to be named and those whose mandates are going to end but may be prolonged, may be tempted by the prospect that they will flatter the political power, he adds.

As a result, the decision on return of property to churches will be another major test of US's independence, Navara writes.

Scores of lawmakers have lately filed their complaints with the US, not only against the return of property to churches, but also against President Vaclav Klaus's New Year amnesty and the sCard that distributes the welfare payment, Martin Weiss writes in Lidove noviny.

There may be two reasons for the frenzy. Either the coalition government and the executive power really behave increasingly in conflict with the constitution, Weiss writes.

Or some politicians file the complaints because they have a reason to believe that their chances are rising, he adds.

The new president, Milos Zeman, can name ten new constitutional judges by the end of the year. All he needs is to agree with the Social Democrat majority in the Senate and US chairman Pavel Rychetsky to whom he has promised this, Weiss writes.

Then they will dominate the "third parliamentary chamber," he warns.

The undermining of the trust in the rule of law cannot be overestimated, Lukas Jelinek writes about the impact of President Vaclav Klaus's amnesty.

The huge public outrage and Klaus's plummeting popularity are eloquent, Jelinek writes.

Despite this, Klaus insists on the correctness of his step. Klaus seems to have sought the closure of the wild story of Czech economic transformation that spawned a great many cases of corruption and fraud.

Many of their protagonists have lived to see the pardoning of their sins by the secular power, Jelinek writes.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz