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February 23, 2001
One month before Bill Clinton's late-night flurry
of pardons for racketeers, cocaine dealers and carnival
scam artists, President Havel's Christmas package of
pardons
included one for a man convicted of beating a married couple
to death with a shovel. As with Clinton, the Justice
Ministry
and law enforcement officials were totally against it,
but the Castle felt that there had been mistakes made
in the
case against the man and set him free. The pardon created
some bad press in the local media, normally sympathetic
to Havel, but was quickly upstaged by the turmoil unfolding
at Czech TV. It could also be that the Czech people have
simply grown used to the fact that their president will
always be a dissident at heart. In one case last year,
the
government brought charges against two reporters concerning
the seedy Olovo affair. Havel, no friend of the prime
minister
and perhaps mindful that the newspaper in question usually
backs him, pardoned the reporters before a police investigation
could begin. He regularly grants pardons to the Roma,
like
the two who beat up on the leader of the neo-fascist party
a few year ago. The president probably feels this is
one
way to even the score for a people who still remain outcasts
in this society (and who, incidentally, figure very little
in other decisions made by the Castle). Unlike his friend
Bill, the Czech president belongs to no political party
and is wealthy enough to build his own library. Moreover,
he has no relatives representing racketeers and cocaine
dealers. Does this mean that Clinton would have acted
more
prudently had he been in Havel's shoes? The smart money
says no--once a money-grubber, always a money-grubber--but
the dissident would have us bet the other way.
February 16, 2001
The prime minister did not show up for his pig.
Or pig's head, to be exact. Famous for putting his foot
in
his mouth, Milos Zeman handily won this year's Rypak ("Snout")
award, a pig's head with a lemon stuffed in its mouth. The
award, unimaginable during the former Communist regime,
is presented to the politician who demonstrates, through
some remark, that he's a real horse's ass. The remarks generally
reflect bad taste or judgment, not Clintonesque ("that
depends on what is is") goofiness. Zeman got the pig
for telling the owner of a Czech firm, whose company was
seeking compensation after being banned from doing business
with a nuclear power facility in Iran, words to this effect:
"I feel like telling Mr. Šmejc that the last letter
in his name can be slightly altered." Change the c
to a d and you get the Czech word šmejd ("sh-made"),
which means something like junk. Products that are Czech-made
are derided as Czech-šmejd if they're not up to snuff.
Zeman had no evidence that Mr. Šmejc makes šmejd,
but wasn't about to offer apologies for cowering under
American
pressure to enforce the ban. The prime minister did try
to put on his best face after being told about the pig.
He loves pork, he claimed, because mad cow disease is everywhere.
Yep, he's already in the running for next year's award.
February 9, 2001
You are invited to call the director himself with
any questions you might have regarding TV Nova or otherwise.
Vladimir ®elezný will then answer them on a show he hosts
called, quite aptly, Call the Director. Having stoked
the
Czech curiosity for who shot JR, it was only fair for Dr.
®elezný to provide a few clues. The question in the air
this week is will the director finally get his as well.
As expected, an international arbitration panel has just
ordered ®elezný to pay his former American partners $23
million for his share of their now worthless joint venture.
Knowing this day would approach, ®elezný has already
transferred
much of his wealth to other people and companies. The Czech
government is obliged by treating to enforce the ruling,
but don't count on it any time soon. For one thing, the
Americans are suing it too, claiming that it failed to
protect
their investment. For another, ®elezný has many friends
in government, which would explain why he has been able
to keep his broadcasting license in spite of having secured
it illegally. But the heat is on in the wake of the parliament
firing the entire Broadcasting Council as part of the
clean
up at Czech TV. Although the new law gives the government
even more control over the Council than before, the former
members, some of whom were reportedly bought off by ®elezný,
are yesterday's news. The question for the government
now
is how to strike a balance between the foreign investors
it needs for job growth and Czech businessmen like ®elezný,
who it needs for money and political muscle. You can
bet
the director will be happy to field that question on his
show.
February 2, 2001
Surprise, surprise, there's a new name on the
roster of potential candidates to succeed President Havel
in 2003.
Senate President Petr Pithart is being touted for the job
in the wake of his mission to bring home the two Czech
prisoners
from Cuba. As a former dissident, Pithart is not exactly
the ideal envoy to send to a dictator with no love for
dissidents.
But he has insisted all along that the Czech government
didn't send him, rather simply paid his way. In the capacity
of a private citizen, he was not at liberty to offer
the
apology Havana was demanding from Prague for their release.
In the end, the two prisoners had to issue the apology
for
themselves. If the whole charade had been masterminded
by the Castle to produce a hero for the next election,
Pithart
got the honors. Havel said as much, leaving Ivan Pilip
out in the cold. Of course, there are doubts as to just
how
big a role Pithart played in the final decision. One report
suggests that the official delegation from the Inter-Parliamentary
Union won their release, leading some people to ask:
What
the hell is the Inter-Parliamentary Union? Another report
said that Václav Klaus had the most influence on Castro.
When Pithart returned home empty-handed, Klaus observed
that the trip had accomplished nothing. Supposedly that
infuriated Castro so much that he ordered the two men
set
free immediately. That would mean that Pilip owes his freedom
to the man he tried and failed to oust as prime minister
a few years ago. The man who Havel and a host of others
will do anything to keep from becoming president. Will
this
happy ending lead a new beginning for all of them? Not
likely, but it gives Czech TV and Hranice some competition
for the
next Svejk awards.
Svejk - Popular character from the novel by
Jaroslav Hasek. The word has come to represent a situation
that is ridiculous beyond comparison.
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