JUNE 19, 1998

P R E S S  R E V I E W

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Let's go to the polls, everybody! That's the message most papers are trying to communicate to their readers. Foreign affairs analysts examine the objectives of Pope John Paul IIs 83rd visit abroad, this time to Austria.

LIDOVE NOVINY practically begs undecided Czechs to go to the polls anyway, for by voting with their feet they would actually strengthen extremist parties opposed to freedom.

SLOVO believes that those who do not vote will squander a big opportunity to help shape the future of their country. You just have to count your blessings, the paper writes. It's no good not to go to the polls and then complain, over a pint in your local pub, about "this impossible, good-for-nothing government which is worse than its predecessors."

MLADA FRONTA DNES thinks that although most Czechs may still be undecided as to who to vote for, they should vote nonetheless. By voting with our feet, we will send a clear message to miscellaneous politicians. But our votes will be either lost, or grabbed by the unscrupulous. We should bear in mind that the Communists and far-right Republicans will stage a massive election turnout -- and that should serve as a warning, the paper cautions.

Voting is not compulsory, and the right to vote can either be used or be missed at your peril, according to ZEMSKE NOVINY. But the paper warns that the latter option would be a mistake. The Czech Republic is neither the old Athens nor New England, whose citizens did not need any rulers and decided about their affairs by voting directly at public rallies. This is a representative democracy and those who we vote in will exercise a major influence on our lives, the paper concludes.

Changes were announced yesterday in the top statutory bodies of the ailing Czech Komercni Bank. LIDOVE NOVINY hails in particular the resignation of the banks general director Richard Salzmann, and calls for the bank's quick and full privatisation. Komercni's shareholders have realised at long last that you cannot teach new tricks to an old dog and that time is ripe for a radical change in the management of the bank's assets and liabilities -- considered the weakest point of Komercni Bank.

Commenting on the Pope's current visit to Austria, SLOVO suggests that its main purpose is to bridge a yawning gap between the Catholic Church and the Austrian nation. The pope should adopt a clear-cut stance on what the paper describes as the difficult situation of Catholics in Austria, as well as meeting representatives of other Christian denominations in a gesture of reconciliation. 

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