Czech PM Tells Party `Back Me or Sack Me`

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Václav Klaus called on Friday for a vote of confidence from his party in a campaign finance row, daring it to end the longest reign of any premier in post-communist Eastern Europe. A defiant Klaus told a packed ...

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Václav Klaus called on Friday for a vote of confidence from his party in a campaign finance row, daring it to end the longest reign of any premier in post-communist Eastern Europe. A defiant Klaus told a packed news conference at the headquarters of his Civic Democratic Party (ODS) that all its leaders would stand for re-election to their party posts and he would actively seek confirmation as ODS chairman. The next state-wide ODS congress is scheduled for March, but party officials said an extraordinary meeting would be called as soon as possible. Klaus said the leadership wanted an audit and broad public disclosure of party finances and privatisations, which some commentators and critics allege may have been influenced by donations to the ODS. He said the party leadership was asking Finance Minister Ivan Pilip, a vice-chairman of the ODS, to review any privatisation called into question by the media. The ODS, the dominant partner in the three-party coalition government, has been rocked by accusations that it improperly accepted 7.5 million crowns ($217,000) in donations in 1995 which may have influenced privatisation decisions. The ODS originally said the money came from two men from Hungary and Mauritius. Czech media found the Hungarian had been dead for 12 years and the Mauritian had never heard of the ODS. Klaus has repeatedly insisted he did not know the origins of the donations, and the privatisations were not affected. But his story has been challenged by former ODS vice-chairman and Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec - who resigned both posts in October, citing, in part, improprieties in ODS financing. Pilip said the affair, including accusations that the donations were linked to the privatisation of steelmaker Trinecke Zelezarny, required further explanation and that he was ready to resign if not satisfied with the results. Klaus staged a blistering attack on the news media which he said were waging "a repeated campaign which attempts to put into doubt my moral credit, my personal credibility, and my political actions". The prime minister said continuing political instability was threatening upcoming membership talks with NATO and the European Union. The funding row is a further sign of discord between the partners in the fractious coalition. Most political analysts doubt it will survive until scheduled elections in 2000. When asked whether the media or ODS was to blame for damaging the name of the Czech Republic, Klaus`s vice-chairman and Health Minister Jan Stráský said: "The media discussion of this situation certainly damages the Republic."

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