Opposition Takes Control of Czech Senate

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Associated Press

Published: October 23, 2010
Filed at 10:08 a.m. ET

PRAGUE (AP) — Opposition Social Democrats have won an election for one-third of Parliament's upper house in the Czech Republic, gaining a majority in the Senate for the first time.

Parliament's lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate will play an important role in electing the president in 2013.

A majority in the Senate also would enable the Social Democrats to scrap a government plan to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and delay approval of unpopular spending cuts.

Voters were selecting 27 senators for the 81-seat Senate in the two-day balloting. The top two finishers from last week's first round were facing runoffs.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/23/world/europe/AP-EU-Czech-Election.html?ref=news

[David__77]

1. CSSD is one of the better social democratic parties.

Most are totally corrupted by right-wing neo-liberalism. The Czech Social Democrats still have the positive influence of the former Communist Party members who dominate it.

[Fool Count]

5. Add to that the positive influence of an actual Communist Party which is still

popular enough with the voters to win many seats in Czech Republic. The Czech Social Democrats know quite well
where their dissatisfied voters will go, should they falter. In most other countries voters don't have that
option anymore.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Czech left winner of senate vote, seen delaying austerity

Source: Reuters

Czech left winner of senate vote, seen delaying austerity
1 hour 47 mins ago

The leading Czech leftist party the Social Democrats secured a majority in the parliament's upper house in an election Saturday and said it would use the power to oppose the cabinet's austerity drive.

The vote, along with a municipal election last weekend, was seen as the first test for the country's three-party, centre-right coalition government and its retrenchment plans opposed by public sector workers.

"This election clearly signals that a large part of the public does not agree with the planned reforms," Social Democrats leader Bohuslava Sobotka told a news conference.

"A large part of the reforms are controversial and I think people came to the election to give the government a clear signal that they do not agree with its policy and that the government should change that policy."





Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20101023/tpl-uk-czech-election-20b2d2f.html

[mackerel]

3. Austerity measures in Czech Republic?!?

The rotten state of Europe.

[reggie the dog]

4. This is great

the people wont have to protest because enough of them dont have their head up their ass

you can grow you own weed there without prosecution too....

you cant smoke weed and drive legally but the alcohol level, like the grass level, is ZERO