Czech press survey - May 19

In a commentary on the arrest of David Rath, governor of Central Bohemia Region until this week, with a seven million crown bribe on Monday, Zverina writes that there is no miraculous recipe for a quick purification of parties and their lists of candidates.

The police will have to "help" the biggest of them. Unless ti does so, they will decline because they be politically intolerable, Zverina writes.

CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka will tolerate the corrupt structures as long as they offer victory. On the other, however, if anything (corruption) bigger comes out just ahead of the elections, no one will be able of changing anything any more, Zverina writes.

Robert Casensky ponders in Mlada fronta Dnes on why Czech politicians invent ridiculous explanations when caught in doing something bad and writes that they probably apply their experience from the Chamber of Deputies.

He writes that politicians when faced with a problem speak about a loan (that is handed over in a paper bag) or about a provocation when caught with millions in a box, or about an apricot compote that is responsible for their drunkenness that did not prevent him from driving a car.

Casensky writes that the culture of endless prattling that has spread in Czech politics may be responsible for that crafty politicians resort to excusing themselves on a level that would be unacceptable even from a third-grader explaining his/her being late at school.

Many politicians have got used to that they can talk gibberish in the Chamber of Deputies and elsewhere, irrespective of facts and of what is true while their party colleagues often applaud them, Casensky writes.

Jiri Hanak writes in Pravo that "Rath´s week" has temporarily overshadowed the performance of the Czech coalition government that has eventually reached the beginning of an economic recession with its austerity cuts.

The Czech GDP´s decrease of 1 percent in the first quarter of the year is an admirable achievement at a time when the economies of all neighbouring countries are growing, Hanak writes.

This applies to Poland and Slovakia, and off course to Austria and Germany even though money does not hatch like bugs in these countries, Hanak writes.

These countries, however, have not set themselves the goal of a state budget deficit decreasing to 3 percent of GDP at any cost. When people do not have money, they cease to spend it, small- and medium-sized businesses´ orders are declining and the collection of taxes is declining as well, Hanak writes.

($1=19.902 crowns)

ms/t

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz