Czech MPs release former minister Parkanova for prosecution
12.07.2012 12:30
CeskeNoviny: Prague - The Czech Chamber of Deputies today released, as expected, former defence minister Vlasta Parkanova (TOP 09) for criminal prosecution over the controversial purchase of CASA transport planes for the Czech air force.
After the vote, Parkanova announced her resignation as Chamber of Deputies deputy chairwoman.
The police suspect Parkanova of two criminal acts in connection with the CASA deal.
The proposal that Parkanova be released for prosecution was supported by 117 of 176 deputies present, while 45 deputies voted against it.
The deputies for the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) and the Communists (KSCM), and also for the junior governing LIDEM party voted for the release, as did the opposition Public Affairs (VV) except for one of its deputies who abstained from the vote.
Of the deputies for the senior ruling Civic Democrats (ODS), 14 voted for and 14 against the release.
Of the deputies for the junior ruling TOP 09, seven voted for and 30 against the release.
Announcing her resignation, Parkanova said she would not withdraw from public life. "I love my country too much to do so," she said.
The vote was preceded by a 4.5-hour debate.
Defending herself in an hour-long speech, Parkanova said the police request for her release contains a number of lies.
Prime Minister Petr Necas (ODS) said the release of Parkanova was the only possible and logical step in the present situation, though the police procedure arouses a number of questions.
"The number of inaccuracies in the police document is too high to be merely shrugged at," Necas told journalists.
"I´d like to say that this day and this vote in fact mean the abolition of deputies´ immunity," said TOP 09 deputy head and Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, who stood up in Parkanova´s defence in the past weeks.
He said it is ruled out for a "bigger nonsense" than the police request for Parkanova´s release to be addressed to parliament ever in the future.
Parkanova´s release was supported by lower house chairwoman Miroslava Nemcova (ODS) and deputy PM Karolina Peake (LIDEM). Peake said she voted for the release though it is clear that the police accusation "limps considerably" and that Parkanova could not commit a crime by breaching a duty she was not bound to.
The police suspect Parkanova of abuse of power and breach of trust in connection with her failure as minister to have an expert opinion on the CASA planes´ appropriate price worked out.
Nemcova, as well as CSSD deputies´ group chairman Jeronym Tejc, praised Parkanova from resigning as lower house deputy head.
"She did not burden the atmosphere in the Czech Republic by increasing the doubts about the Chamber of Deputies and about what people represent the country in high posts," Nemcova said.
Tejc said Parkanova´s remaining in the post would have been untenable and it would harm the Czech lower house and the Czech Republic abroad.
Parkanova may seek the post of lower house deputy head again if acquitted, Tejc said.
After Parkanova´s resignation, the Chamber of Deputies leadership comprises only two members, chairwoman Nemcova (ODS) and deputy chairman Lubomir Zaoralek (CSSD), which is the lowest number in Czech history.
A few weeks ago, the lower house leadership was left by another deputy chairwoman, Katerina Klasnova, after her Public Affairs (VV) party switched from the government to opposition.
Nemcova said the vacant posts in the leadership may be filled in September.
A total of 18 deputies have been stripped of immunity at the police request since 1993. The present Chamber of Deputies released five of them, which is the highest number.
ll Czech dailies today focus on Wednesday´s release of former defence minister Vlasta Parkanova (TOP 09) by the Chamber of Deputies for prosecution over the controversial purchase of CASA transport planes for the Czech military.
In the beginning, Parkanova had a certain chance of not being released for prosecution, but it faded away when Finance Minister and TOP 09 deputy head Miroslav Kalousek started interfering in her case, Petr Sabata writes in Hospodarske noviny.
Kalousek´s phone call to the police investigator, his words about the [police] approach reminding the Communist secret police´s methods, about arbitrariness on the part of the police and godfathers behind the Parkanova scandal, Kalousek´s incomprehensible and aggressive conduct - all this cast the light on Parkanova´s case in a way preventing most deputies from refusing to vote for her release, Sabata writes.
By voting against it, deputies would tell people that they do not care about them and their problems as they are reliably protected by their immunity of MPs, Sabata writes.
Parkanova may thank Kalousek, he says ironically.
Apart from her, however, Kalousek, with his unbelievable conduct, has caused a problem to another man - Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS), Sabata adds, without elaborating.
The staunch and aggressive way some politicians react to the Parkanova case and also the accusation of Parkanova, which, even if it could be proved, evidently is not the main problem in the purchase of the CASAs, indicates that the foundations of the Czech corruption environment have been shattered, Martin Weiss writes in Lidove noviny.
He alludes to the police accusation of Parkanova over her failure in her capacity as minister to have an expert opinion on the aircraft´s price worked out. Some observers say Parkanova was only a "stooge" supposed to cover up vast corruption of other officials not only at the Defence Ministry.
Everybody, from the government parties to opposition activists, are calling for corruption to be fought against. The fight is just underway, Weiss says, referring to the disputes over Parkanova´s release.
The police´s request for Parkanova´s release, based on an unclear and disputable accusation, was rather an unfortunate and counter-productive contribution to the Czech fight against corruption, Karel Steigerwald writes in Mlada fronta Dnes.
The opposition´s "performance" at the Chamber of Deputies session on Wednesday definitively showed that no law or justice are sought, but only politicians´ performance itself, since the core of the case is nothing but political struggle. The aircraft are a matter of secondary importance, Steigerwald says.
Further investigation is likely to prompt another wave of politicians´ performances and rhetorics rather than rationality and respect for law, Steigerwald writes.
Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek (TOP 09) says releasing of Parkanova amounts to sticking to lies. Opposition Social Democrat (CSSD) head Bohuslav Sobotka says the refusal to release Parkanova means sticking to lies. The two unwittingly expressed the main problem: both releasing and not releasing Parkanova are bad solutions. The case has no good solution, Steigerwald writes.
Only naive people can be unaware that the release of Parkanova is no success but another failure of the Czech political scene, since the case is so complex, dark and opaque that the CASA deal´s circumstances will never be cleared up. The only thing people will live to see is demagoguery, Steigerwald concludes.