ODS membership of former Prague mayor Bem renewed

Poslanec Pavel Bém hovoří na schůzi Poslanecké sněmovny 5. září v Praze.

published: 18.01.2013, 13:24 | updated: 18.01.2013 13:26:24

Prague - Former Prague mayor and lawmaker Pavel Bem is a member of the senior government Civic Democratic Party (ODS) again, Marie Kubikova, head of the Prague 6th district branch that renewed Bem´s membership suspended in 2012, told CTK today.

Last spring, Bem was forced to suspend his membership over his phone calls with controversial lobbyist Roman Janousek. ODS leader and PM Petr Necas then called on Bem to give up his lawmaker´s mandate as well, which Bem did not do.

Wiretappings of Bem-Janousek phone calls from 2007 when Bem was mayor of the capital city indicate that Janousek influenced major decisions made by the Prague City Hall then. The recordings of the wiretapped calls leaked to Czech media last March.

Kubikova said Bem´s membership was renewed after a long discussion.

The ODS branch that Kubikova heads concluded that it is unreasonable to prevent a long-lasting significant member, Bem, from re-entering the party merely based on newspaper articles and without any relevant evidence.

According to available information, the police have not taken any measures, Kubikova said.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz

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