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Moving target

Bribery charges threaten to topple rising KDU-ČSL star, presenting the first real challenge to the fragile new government

February 14th, 2007 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Jiří Čunek's rapid political ascent could soon be followed by an equally rapid downfall.
What goes up must come down. Perhaps no other Czech politician in recent memory better embodies that truism than Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek.
After a meteoric four-month rise from relative obscurity to the top of the country’s political heap, charges of corruption and bribery are threatening to bring Čunek crashing down, and with him a fragile coalition government that is only a month old and now facing its first major test of leadership.
Today, Čunek is regional development minister and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (KDU-ČSL). But, until a few months ago, Čunek was just the mayor of Vsetín, east Moravia. Last fall saw the birth of his political celebrity, after his eviction and relocation of Romany (Gypsy) families in the town catapulted him to nationwide notoriety.
ČTK
Though still backed by Topolánek, Regional Development Minister Jiří Čunek faces a potential end to his political career after losing his parliamentary immunity in a Feb. 7 vote.
Since early January, Čunek has been accused of accepting a 500,000 Kč bribe in 2002 from a real estate company while he was mayor. He was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in a Senate vote Feb. 7 and criminally charged two days later.
Still, he remains defiant: On Feb. 12, he filed an official complaint against the charges.
At press time, Čunek continued to bat off the opposition’s calls for his resignation, and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek was refusing to dismiss the beleaguered minister.
The players

Jiří Čunek, deputy prime minister and Christian Democratic Union chairman
Petr Hurta, president of H&B Real real estate company in Vsetín, east Moravia

The allegations
In February 2002, H&B Real withdrew 499,000 Kč from its bank account, the same month Čunek made a 497,000 Kč deposit at his own bank
Čunek is accused of taking a bribe to give Hurta a favorable municipal contract

“He’s giving Čunek time to explain the whole issue,” says Martin Schmarz, the prime minister’s spokesman.
Whether the scandal will topple the coalition government — which partners the KDU-ČSL with the ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Green Party (SZ) — remains to be seen, analysts say, as does its effect on ODS Chairman Topolánek, who spent seven months forging the coalition.
“This affair is not going to harm Topolánek; this is the problem of Čunek and the Christian Democrats,” political analyst Bohumil Doležal says. “Topolánek didn’t specifically choose Čunek to participate in the government, he just chose the leader of the KDU-ČSL.”
But Čunek is much more on the block, Doležal says.
Čunek's rise
  • 1998 Elected mayor of Vsetín, east Moravia
  • October 2006 Evicted Romany families from Vsetín
  • Dec. 9, 2006 Elected chairman of Christian Democrats
  • Jan. 16 Police request Senate to strip Čunek's immunity so he can be prosecuted
  • Jan. 19 The Cabinet, which includes Čunek, receives necessary vote of confidence
  • Feb. 7 The Senate votes 38 to 26 to strip Čunek of his immunity
  • Feb. 9 Police file charges against Čunek
“If Čunek steps down, he will be finished in politics,” he says. “The [KDU-ČSL] will hide him somewhere within the party … and he won’t manage any kind of comeback.”
The new political football
At least some criticism is falling on Topolánek, who has always billed himself as having more character and leadership skills than his predecessors, notably former Prime Minister and Social Democratic (ČSSD) Chairman Jiří Paroubek.
Topolánek’s relative silence on the Čunek scandal — he left Prague Feb. 12 for a weeklong holiday in the mountains — is baffling, says Vladimíra Dvořáková, a political scientist at the University of Economics in Prague.
“Topolánek is afraid it would complicate the situation within the KDU-ČSL leadership,” she says. However, keeping Čunek on can also “destabilize the political situation.”
Čunek continues to get the support of his own party.
“He has our trust,” KDU-ČSL spokesman Martin Horálek says. “He’s a victim of political opportunism. We’re convinced that these are just allegations and want Čunek to be able to prove his innocence.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, ČSSD senators voted unanimously to strip Čunek’s immunity.
“He himself said he wanted us to do it, so we were just following his wishes,” ČSSD spokeswoman Květa Kocová says. The party is also calling loudly for his resignation, and roundly criticizing Topolánek’s reaction to the affair.
The scandal has reached the streets: Posters mocking Čunek began appearing on billboards nationwide earlier this month, alluding to the bribe allegations and his policies with the Roma.
Billboard owner Outdoor Akcent says a group paid for the billboards, but did so anonymously.
Checkered past
Čunek is no stranger to controversy. In fact, he’s built his recent political career upon it.
His evictions last October of several Roma families from Vsetín earned him harsh criticism from human rights activists at home and abroad, but also gave him widespread popularity. He also faced allegations of sexual harassment from his former secretary in Vsetín, Marcela Urbanová, which were later dismissed.
She has become a star witness for the police, claiming Čunek bragged about receiving the 500,000 Kč bribe from H&B Real, a Vsetín-based real estate company, in exchange for giving the company an advantageous municipal contract. (H&B Real head Petr Hurta also faces criminal charges).
Čunek denies the bribery allegations, but has offered up conflicting explanations of how the money ended up in his bank account.
He first said he didn’t remember depositing it, then said it was part of his family’s savings, and finally that it came from another of his bank accounts.
Čunek is the first senior official to be charged while still in office, political analyst Jan Bureš says. “This is the first time that a minister being investigated refuses to resign.”
He won’t be the only casualty in the scandal, either.
Even if the coalition survives, the unwavering support of his party could sink the KDU-ČSL, Dvořáková says. “The party has gotten more public support very recently, but they could lose it very quickly.”
Under Čunek’s leadership, the party has enjoyed a surge of popular appeal, but that support base could turn, she says. “This [populist] way of conducting politics makes him very vulnerable.”
The entire affair has also further eroded the public’s trust in the political system, Bureš says. “It all contributes to the fact that the Czech public is disgusted with current affairs. People are tired of all of it.”
— Hela Balínová and Naďa Černá contributed to this report.


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