Communist MP suspects gov't of spying on party

Prague, Jan 28 (CTK) - The Czech government "spies on" the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), Miroslav Grebenicek, its former leader, said in a parliamentary question with which he has turned to Prime Minister Petr Necas.

Necas has dismissed the allegation, saying that the government certainly does not shadow any party.

Grebenicek said he had recently received the information that the Interior Ministry and some intelligence bodies were "tasked to spying on the KSCM or to incite for, organise and execute the shadowing of the KSCM."

Grebenicek said the government thus wanted to restrain the democratic competition of parties and "deflect the public attention from the corrupt, lobbyist, clientelist and criminal acts and from the scandals in which government members, clients and sponsors of governing coalition parties have come under suspicion."

Grebenicek asked Necas what parliamentary parties were being shadowed by the government and what intelligence services and further institutions were being used for it.

He also asked whether the ODS was also being shadowed as the public suspects it most from clientelism.

Necas has dismissed the allegations.

"The government fully respects the free competition of parties. It certainly does not execute any arbitrary shadowing of parties," Necas wrote in his answer to the parliamentary question.

He wrote that the work of intelligence services had been set down by law. As a result, it cannot be said that they watched the KSCM for the government needs if there were no legal reasons for it.

Last year, the government assigned the Interior Ministry to draw up a proposal to suspend the activity of the KSCM.

However, it postponed the debate on the issue at the end of November.