Czech press survey - October 8

The opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) do not need any reason for their effort to topple the right-wing government. Moreover, now the coalition cabinet of the Civic Democrats (ODS), TOP 09 and LIDEM cannot rely on a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, Weiss says.

It is not certain whether the "rebels" in the ODS, who rejected the government stabilisation package of tax changes, realise it, he adds.

Prime Minister Petr Necas (ODS) has connected a new vote on the key bill with a vote of confidence.

Weiss reminds that in the past the government´s overthrow opened space to manoeuvring. The government could govern in resignation for quite a long time and the president could be looking forward to surprising everyone by his proposal for a new prime minister.

However, the situation has changed since the respective amendment to the constitution was passed in the autumn of 2009. Now if a three-fifth majority of deputies approved the dissolution of the lower house, early elections would be held in 60 days, Weiss says.

It would be a quick procedure. No head of a caretaker interim cabinet would replace Necas. Early general elections would be held simultaneously with the direct presidential election in January, Weiss notes.

"It may be a pure coincidence but Vaclav Klaus would thereby go down in history as the president under whom no prime minister could survive," Weiss concludes in LN.

The system of Czech regions should be reformed since the problems of indebtedness and wasting of finances may be embedded in their existence, Petr Honzejk writes in Hospodarske noviny (HN) today, five days ahead of the regional elections.

Political analysts agree that the regions are needed since "the decision-making thus gets closer to citizens," but the practice seems different. Regional authorities are really close only to local influential businessmen dubbed "godfathers," Honzejk says.

He adds that regional offices are ideal platforms for "trafficking." Citizens are rather interested in their own municipality and nationwide politics.

Consequently, regions are "a very lucrative micro-world between municipalities and the state," which became apparent in the case of former Social Democrat (CSSD) Central Bohemia regional governor David Rath, charged with corruption, Honzejk points out.

"The regions have existed for 12 years. If nothing changes in them in the following election tenure, we must admit that they are taking more than they are giving to us and start considering their reform," Honzejk writes in conclusion.

The Social Democrats´ (CSSD) campaign ahead of the regional elections is again based on anti-government slogans, with which the party scored success four years ago, as purely regional topics would not make citizens go to the polls, Jiri Kubik writes in Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) today.

"Express no confidence in the government by your vote for the CSSD in the regional elections," says the CSSD´s main slogan, ignoring the fact that regions are not superior to the government, but vice versa. The government determines their budgets, Kubik points out.

Indeed, the CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka and other party leaders complain about the right-wing government´ miserliness if they explain why debts had to rise during their governing in the regions, Weiss notes.

The Social Democrats will probably not repeat their crushing victory in all 13 regions. However, even if they filled all post of regional governors in 2008, it did not change the government then, Kubik recalls.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz