Paroubek also says he is disappointed by the Communists' behaviour during the election of the new Czech president in February as he firmly believes that the Communists contributed to the re-election of President Vaclav Klaus for the second five-year election term. The letter that CSSD spokeswoman Kveta Kocova gave to CTK is Paroubek's answer to an invitation to attend the KSCM congress in Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia, this Saturday, that he received from KSCM chairman Vojtech Filip. Filip, who will be defending his post at the congress, said he viewed Paroubek's letter as a sign of fear of the second "unification" congress as the Social Democrats and the Communists involuntarily merged Czech govt survives no confidence motion provoked by opposition ...
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Bobosikova not willing to withdraw from Czech presidential poll ... precisely after the coup in 1948. "There will be no second unification congress," Filip said. He said the congress delegates' appeal to members and supporters of the CSSD for cooperation with the KSCM would be an answer to Paroubek. Paroubek wrote to Filip that the CSSD marked the 130th anniversary of its establishment this year and also the events of the "unfortunate 1948 year" as a consequence of which thousands of Social Democrats ended up in prison and some of them were even executed. For the first time since 1990 the Communists assessed the February 1948 coup so positively that "it should deeply hurt every genuine democrat," Paroubek said in the letter. Filip argued that he differentiated between the Communists' constitutional course in 1948 in forming a government and their further problematic steps. Paroubek says the CSSD continues to view the KSCM as an important partner in parliament in the fight against the anti-social policy of the current government. The CSSD, however, cannot ignore the way in which the KSCM assesses the consequences of the Communist movement in the world and in the Czech Republic, he said. Paroubek said he was afraid that his presence at the KSCM congress could provoke a very negative reaction of some CSSD voters and the broad public. Paroubek criticised the Communists for wasting the chance in this year's presidential elections to join the democratic parties and create a coalition for a change that sought the election of economist Jan Svejnar as Czech president. "Your course that culminated with the proposal of [Czech MEP] Jana Bobosikova as your own candidate for president deeply disappointed us, especially because, in our opinion, it considerably contributed to the election of Vaclav Klaus and strengthening of the legitimacy of the current right-wing government," Paroubek said. Filip said, however, that the question of the presidential election was not a question of the left and the right.
Behind their rhetoric the Social Democrats only want to conceal their longing for the grand coalition between the CSSD and the ODS (senior ruling Civic Democrats), he said. Filip also invited President Klaus and Bobosikova to attend the party congress. Klaus has excused himself. Filip said previously he would personally meet Bobosikova.
(Ceske Noviny)
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