December Editorial

Twenty years ago in 1992  the division of Czechoslovakia was looming.

The messieurs Meciar and Klaus basically made the decision among themselves. I cannot speak about the Slovaks, but the Czechs kept on bringing  to the parliament( where I had been working as a journalist) dozens of sheets of citizens’ signatures petitioning to keep Czechoslovakia undivided.

For the last six months we  had been without a president.. Vaclav Havel  resigned in the summer. He invited  journalists to join him in the park at Lany. It was a beautiful day. We sat in the garden and talked informally. The question was: Would he like to become the president of the new Czech Republic? His answer was: “I will not campaign for it but if the people will want me, I would take it…”

It was a strange end of a year. Some time ago a have attended a meeting in Bratislava- those present did not want to divide the country. I think it was organized by the editorial staff of the Mosty journal under the leadership of Sona Cechova. We attended with the writer Sasa Berkova.  Sasa told the audience that our republic would soon be divided and she was right. She was a very smart woman.

This month culminates the cabaret called “direct elections.”  The signatures collected by three candidates were not accepted as valid. They are: The extremely ambitious Jana Bobosikova, the  very slick and crafty Vladimir Dlouhy and the  aggressive entrepreneur Tomio Okamura. Therefore those three persons were disqualified as possible presidential candidates.  They are fighting back and demanding that their votes be recounted. Is the recounting to be done just for them or for all the rest of the candidates? I did not quite understand that point. In any case- it will delay the election process. Does it mean that we might be again without a president since Vaclav Klaus will have to vacate the castle soon?

My friends and acquaintances  ask me who I will vote for. Most people will not usually answer such a question, I shall: I will vote for a woman. It is about time that a woman be at the helm. And there are two women who would really deserve it.  A very good candidate is Tana Fiserova. She had already spent some time in the Senate until the “wolves” chased her out. It happens to many decent people who end up in the Senate hoping to do some good. The other woman is Zuzana Roithova. She is experienced in the European Parliament where she remained successfully in spite of the fact that she is a decent person.

By the way- I was very taken by a young lady, an economist, who spoke at a meetings on November 17 and who was very well received. She said that the sludge of corruption and thieving has spread all over the world with supranational firms, and that if anybody thinks that some politician  will change that- that is a  naïve dream. Only the people can change that, for example if they are united in active associations and use  appropriate pressure. I am saying it in a very simple way. But I will soon print her interview right here in the Czech Dialogue.

And December?  That means Christmas. In the Czech Republic the celebrations will be very modest in many families. Prices are going up, many people are unemployed- but we shall celebrate tranquility, peace and love. That is how it should be.

Translated by Marie Dolanska

Photo V. Darmová