Czech press survey - September 3

The answer is simple and gloomy: the resolution to make massive investments in education requires a sense for contributions exceeding one election period, Leschtina points out.

This is exactly what Czech prime ministers lacked, irrespective of the composition of their governments, he concludes.

It is wonderful that Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek finally admitted that the raising of the excise tax on fuel in 2009 was not very fortunate, Martin Zverina says with irony in Lidove noviny (LN).

Never mind that many analysts have been saying and statistical data have long been confirming that truck drivers will be refuelling before or after they drive through the Czech Republic, Zverina writes.

The way of Kalousek´s thinking is noteworthy: he says the tax on fuel may go down if the toll goes up and is collected not only on motorways but also other main roads, Zverina says.

When toll was being introduced on Czech roads, the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), then led by Kalousek, pushed through Kapsch as the firm to carry out the project and the contract that the Czech state signed was advantageous first of all for Kapsch, Zverina writes.

Is Kalousek´s TOP 09 party now promoting Kapsch´s interests? he asks.

Doctors pointed to extensive daylight robbery in Czech hospitals already during their Thanks We Are Leaving protest campaign demanding higher salaries, Zverina says elsewhere in Lidove noviny.

One can hardly believe that the situation has improved. So far, only further cases of disadvantageous purchases and other frauds come to the light, he says.

Zverina recalls the recent case of former regional governor David Rath charged with corruption related to purchases by clinics run by the regional authorities.

Health Minister Leos Heger wants to turn teaching hospitals into university ones and not let politicians influence them, Zverina writes.

He notes that it will take several years before this plan is implemented.

The Czech health care system has many mistakes and all kinds of scoundrels try to push through their private interests in the name of better care or progress in medicine, Zverina writes.

Unless health care is considered a system where we want to achieve a reasonable rate between the price and performance, no step forward will be taken because they will always be somebody who will sell an overpriced novelty to us, he says.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz