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Politicians reveal finances

New law requires MPs to publicly report their earnings and gifts

By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 9th, 2008 issue

Thanks to a new law passed in April, all members of Parliament, government ministers and other civil servants must annually declare their financial standing as well as properties gained and gifts received during the previous year. Some have done so voluntarily in the past, but never before have financial profiles been reported on such a large scale.
The law was proposed in 2007 by several Social Democratic (ČSSD) deputies. The senior coalition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) was strictly against the proposal, but it passed the Chamber of Deputies thanks to Green Party (SZ) support. The Senate, in which the ODS has the majority, rejected the bill but was overruled by the lower chamber. President Václav Klaus also vetoed the proposal but he too was overruled by the deputies.
Many politicians cited concerns about arousing envy among citizens as a reason for voting against the bill. “That seems rather hypocritical. Envy is aroused by secrecy. The more open politicians will be about their lives, the less interested the public will be,” countered former MP Oldřich Kužílek, who is now a political consultant and expert in open public administration.
“The fact that wrongdoers will be uncovered and weeded out of the system outweighs the slight loss of privacy that MPs suffer. … This information is key to exercising effective control in a democratic state.”
Getting it out in the open
Penalties for officials who failed to comply vary. Those who were late in reporting their finances were subject to a fine of 30,000 Kč. Failure to declare at all carried a 100,000 Kč fine, and any finding of misreporting would cost 500,000 Kč.
Despite all claims of better transparency, the information isn’t readily accessible. Available as of July 1 on the Senate and Chamber of Deputies Web site, personal finances are displayed in the form of a registry, organized by name. However, anyone interested in gaining access must first contact the chambers of Parliament to obtain a login and password. According to information provided by Senate clerks, only 16 people had registered as of July 7 — 14 journalists and one student who needed the information for his thesis.
It is difficult to say if the MPs are openly declaring everything. Upon viewing the registry, it appears that many indicated they had nothing “interesting” regarding their finances to report. Those who did declare something mostly tended to list debts and mortgages, with only a few reporting other forms of income and business interests.
When compared, senators tended to have fewer and smaller debts and greater incomes than their colleagues in the lower chamber. “This is easily explained,” Kužílek said. “Senators are usually elected after they achieve some status in society, while the Chamber of Deputies has many party apparatchiks who are still securing their livelihoods.”
But not all are happy with the new registry, and some condemn it as being misleading. “I don’t think the register is completely fair and objective,” said Daniel Petruška, the MP with the biggest debt. “I was a successful businessman long before entering politics and all people now get to see is a huge mortgage without any explanation.”

Show us the money 

Martin Bursík, deputy prime minister (SZ)

Admitted to making the most money out of all party leaders. Owns property in the center of Prague next to Parliament, which he rents out for 1.3 million Kč annually. Despite the extra income, he still owes his former wife 1 million Kč

Jiří Čunek, deputy prime minister (KDU-ČSL)

Inherited a house worth 2.5 million Kč and received a garage and garden worth 135,000 Kč as a gift. Despite being suspected of extensive money laundering, he is paying off a mortgage of 1.3 million Kč. He’s also reportedly works on three company boards

Vojtěch Filip, deputy (KSČM)

Leased a Škoda worth 300,000 Kč to drive to his law office in south Bohemia, but is paying off the balance and has only 73,000 Kč left. Compared with other party leaders, he reported a modest life and only declared an income of 230,000 Kč from his law practice

Jiří Paroubek, deputy (ČSSD)

The Social Democratic chairman has two apartments in Prague worth 5.5 million Kč and debts totaling 3.5 million Kč following his divorce last year. Because he now lives with his new wife, Paroubek announced that he gave one of the apartments together with most of the debt to his son

Daniel Petruška, deputy (ODS)

This otherwise little-known MP reported the largest debt of all politicians, totaling 11.5 million Kč, being paid off in monthly installments of more than 50,000 Kč. However, he has said that as a successful businessman he has no problems paying it off

Karel Schwarzenberg, foreign affairs minister (SZ)

Probably the richest politician due to his inheritance of large family estates. His 99.8 percent stake in the family company Orlík is worth more than 27 million Kč. Still, he has only reported the receipt of a carpet worth 13,000 Kč as a gift from the Azerbaijani ambassador

Mirek Topolánek, prime minister (ODS)

While known to dislike talking about his private life, the PM reported paying off a mortgage worth 4.6 million Kč. He bought an apartment in Prague for his wife and children when he went to live with another woman, Lucie Talmanová, whose relationship with the PM is well known

Tomáš Töpfer, senator (ODS)

A successful actor and businessman as well as a senator. His income last year was 1.5 million Kč from acting and an extra 1.2 million Kč from other activities. In addition, he owns the theater where he works as well as several pubs and restaurants

Miroslav Vlček, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies (ČSSD)

Besides reporting a debt of 5.5 million Kč, he is also on the board of the company Cíl, established in 1939 and owned solely by ČSSD. Cíl deals with PR and marketing for the party, but is also licensed to manufacture umbrellas and had bought and sold trash

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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