Czech press survey - April 14

Paroubek has dismissed the objections at home and abroad, saying that the toppling of the coalition government of Mirek Topolanek in a no-confidence vote in the middle of the Czech EU presidency was an ill-considerate act, and he reiterated it was a moral matter.

Nevertheless, Mitrofanov adds, regardless of Paroubek's motives, it would imply that the CSSD playing the role of "a prosecutor and judge" in the case has the right to execute the sentence because the party itself, including its main protagonists such as Central Bohemia Governor David Rath, is an example of high morals, Mitrofanov adds.

He recalls that Rath recently said those who wish that the blob-shaped library designed by late architect Jan Kaplicky were built, should vote for the CSSD in elections, in other words he used the building, which for many is a moral symbol, "as a pre-election decoy."

Moreover, Rath publicly released the name and phone number of the judge who banned the regions from covering health care fees in regional pharmacies, Mitrofanov says.

"It might be more fair to forget about morals and confess that Topolanek's government was toppled as a consequence of an uncontrolled desire to topple it," Mitrofanov concludes in Pravo.

Political power in the Czech Republic has silently moved from democratically elected persons, controlled by political parties' boards, to several negotiators whose interests are opaque, Bohumil Pecinka writes in Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) today.

He adds that there are two alternatives of the formation of a new interim cabinet.

Prime minister designate Jan Fischer, current head of the Czech Statistical Office (CSU), may select ministers alone and such a cabinet will probably not win confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, though it may rule until the October early election.

The other alternative, which is much more probable, is that the lineup of Fischer's government will be formed under the scenario of several party bosses.

On the basis of the negotiations, it seems that the government will be ruled by lobbyists, that is people who mediate the interests between the world of politics and business, Pecinka writes.

These men are to push negotiations or make some quick decisions. This will not be that difficult since Fischer's government will rule in "power vacuum," Pecinka adds.

The senior ruling Civic Democrats (ODS) should not rely on "silly anti-communism" in the election campaign as they would fail to win voters with this strategy, Martin Zverina writes in Lidove noviny (LN) today.

He recalls that the ODS leadership should take into consideration the poll results showing that over 60 percent of Czechs do not mind new Prime Minister Jan Fischer's eight-year membership of the former Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

However, Zverina adds, the Civic Democrats who used anti-communist rhetoric in the previous election campaign, will definitively play the "anti-communist" tune this year as well.

But if the campaign is in the spirit of the recent clip on the government fall, it will not be efficient as it will rather discourage voters by its stupid and inappropriate character, Zverina writes in conclusion.

Autor: ČTK
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