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All Czech newspapers today focus their attention on the early
parliamentary elections that started on Friday afternoon. Many papers
carry photographs of high ranking politicians casting their ballots.
MLADA FRONTA DNES brings a photo of the presidential couple at the
polling station near the presidential residence at Lany near Prague,
saying that Vaclav Havel and his wife's votes might not be valid,
because they both stepped into the same booth at one time and that
contradicts the election law, according to which only one person may be
present in the booth when marking his or her ballot. But voting
commission officials present at the voting station said they did not see
any infraction, and while photos clearly show the two together, it is
not clear whether they actually marked their ballots together, reports
MLADA FRONTA DNES. Havel did not comment on the matter, saying only that
the two "voted differently".
"Mainly those who knew whom to vote for
came to cast their ballots on Friday" claims PRAVO, adding that it seems
that people's participation in this election might be higher than it was
two years ago. The paper also lists that those who were leaving their
towns for the weekend were among Friday's voters. And the paper surmises
that there were few last-second changes of mind concerning preferences
for the two major contenders - the centre-left Social democrats and
right wing Civic democratic party. "I will vote for the Social
democrats, but I don't want to give my name, my friends in the pub would
laugh at me," one of the voters in Hluboka in South Bohemia told
PRAVO.
Under the headline "Czech economy in the first quarter of 1998
dropped unexpectedly by nearly 1 percent," SLOVO writes that according
to the Czech statistical office the gross national product, which is the
main indicator of the economic performance of every country, has dropped
by 0,9 percent. According to financial analysts, this result came as a
big disappointment as it was much worse than the forecasts had
predicted. The only positive factor in this respect is that exports grew
by nearly 32 percent, but even this is slowing down, says SLOVO. The
Raiffeisbank's main analyst Martin Kupka told the paper he did not
consider it fair to blame the previous government for this result, which
was the opposition's first reaction to Friday's news.
Today's LIDOVE
NOVINY informs that the Czech army must dismiss pilots, as many of them
are redundant, when their numbers are compared to those in the present
NATO countries. There, there are roughly three pilots for two planes,
while in the Czech republic there's some 600 pilots and 200 planes,
which makes the figures 3 to 1. Czech defence minister Michal Lobkowitz,
too, said there would be changes in the airforce. "But it is necessary
to discuss the state's demands and its financial means," minister
Lobkowitz told LIDOVE NOVINY. The same paper reports on the founding of
a civic association "People against racism" in Brno. The association's
main idea is to fight against a racist society, an idea that Czech
students fought for in their demonstrations throughout the country last
year, after the murder of an Arab student in Prague. "Our members are
mostly students, teachers and representatives of ethnic minorities
living in Brno," said Lenka Podrabska from the Association in today's
LIDOVE NOVINY.
And for a lighter note - back to SLOVO. On Sunday, June
21st, the whole continent will celebrate the European Day of Music. The
Czech republic will be no exception, says SLOVO. Many bigger and smaller
towns will resound with music on Sunday, played both by professional and
amateur musicians. One of the main attractions in Prague will be an
"open door" to the State opera, where opera buffs will have a chance to
see the interior and the backstage of one of the major opera houses in
the Czech republic, and watch a short programme prepared especially for
curious visitors.
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