Activists call on politicians to embrace anti-corruption measures

Prague, Oct 6 (CTK) - Czech civic associations have called on their supporters ahead of the mid-October elections to recommend to "their politicians" to sign the Semily Appeal that contains anti-corruption measures, Jaroslav Kuchar, head of the Vymente politiky.cz (Replace politicians) initiative has said.

The appeal has five points that each local assembly member should honour.

First, every municipality should release on the Internet the details of public tenders and the rules of placing public orders.

The commissions that make decisions on the bids should not comprise members of local assemblies, but employees of the local authority.

The activists say local authorities' decision-making should be open and assembly members should have access to the meetings of the council that are closed now.

They also propose that concrete persons bear material responsibility for every decision.

Kuchar said the candidates' decency and competence on the local level need not be directly connected with membership or support of a party.

"A crushing majority of local problems do not have an ideological dimension and they can be solved just as well or badly by a person wearing a red, green, orange, blue or any other T-shirt," Kuchar said, hinting at the parties' symbolical colours.

He said people should therefore pay more attention to what is going on in their municipality.

Daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday that besides the Semily Appeal politicians can also "prove" their decency by joining the Ethical Code displayed on the Nasipolitici.cz (Our politicians) server.

The paper writes that only about 100 politicians have done so to date. They include Health Minister Leos Heger (TOP 09).

The movement Koho volit.eu (Whom to vote for) offers "election calculators" that help people find a party with whose programme they identify themselves the most.

"We want to offer citizens effective instruments to control politicians so that they can replace them not in elections once in four years, but anytime during the election term if politicians do not behave as they should," LN quotes Marek Jehlicka, from Zmenpolitiku.cz (Change politics), as saying.