Czechs made good Friday on what was unimaginable under communist rule just 15 years ago -- choosing European Parliament representatives as sign of membership in the continent's club of democracy.
The vote was a mixed blessing for some Czechs -- an affirmation of arrival in Europe's rich and free nations tinged with worry that that very membership could reduce their nation's sovereignty.
The EU expanded to 25 nations and 450 million people when it took in the Czech Republic and seven other former Soviet bloc nations on May 1. Ireland also was voting Friday in a four-day process that will choose 732 representatives Europe-wide in four days of voting that began Thursday and running through today, with issues ranging from national sovereignty to the war on terrorism and Europe's role in Iraq.
PHOTO: AP
While the European Parliament still cannot introduce legislation -- that right is reserved for the European Commission -- its powers have steadily grown to the point that it now influences all EU laws, by voting on them and amending them. It can even ask the commission to revise EU legislation, which is binding on all member states.
In the Czech Republic, candidates included former Soviet-era cosmonaut Vladimir Remek and Nora Baumberger, a porn actress who goes by the screen name Dolly Buster. Voting was spread over Friday and yesterday. The state-run CTK news agency reported turnout at only 10 percent shortly before polls closed Friday.
Vaclav Havel, the communist-era dissident who went on to become his country's first post-communist president, cast his vote in silence in Prague. Other Czechs were more vocal -- though skeptical that their votes would make a large difference.
"I'll definitely go to vote. It's important to use the chance," said Lukas Kokes, 20, a Prague university student.
But Kokes said it was unlikely that the 24 Czech deputies would be able to do anything meaningful for their constituents back home. "They can hardly do anything unless they cooperate with others," he said.
Businesswoman Vendula Dvorakova, 40 said she figures "my vote will not mean much, but this is one of the few chances to influence public affairs, so I'll vote."
The Czech Republic shook off communism in the 1989 Velvet Revolution. It and Slovakia became independent states when Czechoslovakia broke up in 1993.
Irish voters were filling 13 seats in a contest widely seen as a referendum on the waning popularity of the Fianna Fail party.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS