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Slovak daily SME says Czech president ‘carries most blame for corruption’

  17:40

Václav Klaus blocked investigations of financial crimes and protected corrupt former Prague mayor Pavel Bém, Slovak daily writes 

Václav Klaus měl bezpochyby zásadní vliv na raketový politický nástup Pavla Béma. foto: © ČTKČeská pozice

President Václav Klaus’ reaction to the publication of wiretap recordings from 2007 between then Prague mayor Pavel Bém (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) and “godfather” lobbyist Roman Janoušek prompted a number of Czech commentators to suggest Klaus is apprehensive about the exposure of corrupt practices that could lead to his own door. On Wednesday the Slovak daily SME went further, claiming Klaus carries most responsibility for corruption in the Czech Republic.

When asked for his opinion about the conversations between Bém and Janoušek, published over the past week by the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD), Klaus said he had not heard or read the conversations — and doesn’t intend to do so — but is “extremely concerned” that “personal matters” from wiretaps made by intelligence and security organs find their way into the media.

“I think it should concern you, too, not just us citizens,” Klaus told reporters on Monday. He concluded by saying the phenomenon of wiretaps “damages our Czech democracy.”

‘Nobody else has such a large share of personal responsibility for corruption and cronyism as the current president’“Nobody else has such a large share of personal responsibility for corruption and cronyism as the current president,” the Slovak daily said in an editorial in its Wednesday edition. The daily says a root cause of corruption in the Czech Republic today is the fact that as prime minister in the 1990s Klaus blocked the introduction of clear rules and comprehensive legislation for the privatization process and allocation of public funds.  

The daily describes Klaus as the “proverbial frog sitting on the cleansing spring of Czech politics,” and claims he has for years consistently protected the faction of “godfathers” in the center-right ODS by preventing effective measures against financial crimes. As long as he remains in politics, he will stubbornly fight against greater control over political power by public bodies and the judiciary, the daily says.

Further SME writes that because of his vanity Klaus has never admitted a mistake — a characteristic that it said his supporters mistakenly view as integrity and consistency.

The Slovak daily says that if the ODS is to survive, it is not enough to eject Bém from the party; it must sever all ties with Klaus. The Czech head of state was a cofounder of the ODS but is no longer a member. According to SME, however, he still wields “enormous influence” within the party.

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