Schwarzenberg unacceptable for trade unions, they recommend Zeman

Prague, Jan 21 (CTK) - Czech Foreign Minister and TOP 09 head Karel Schwarzenberg is unacceptable as Czech presidential candidate for the CMKOS trade union umbrella organisation, its leader Jarosalv Zavadil said Monday, practically recommending voting for former Social Democrat prime minister Milos Zeman.

Zavadil said the CMKOS would deny the sense of all its protests against the government reforms if it supported Schwarzenberg.

Zeman, now Party of Citizens' Rights (SPOZ), on the contrary has endorsed the CMKOS's plan for the Czech Republic.

The CMKOS associates 29 union organisations with a total of several hundred thousand members.

The CMKOS council agreed Monday the reforms of the government negatively impact mainly on employees.

Schwarzenberg, deputy prime minister of the government, has supported the government's reforms a majority of which were proposed by his party, the CMKOS said.

Zeman, for his part, has endorsed the unions' vision in which they described measures that would improve the economic situation and life in the country.

"The CMKOS is convinced that its members will go to the polls and that they will take these facts into consideration in their decision-making," the unions said.

Previously the CMKOS was not giving explicit recommendations as to which parties or candidates people should vote for. It only used to assess the parties' manifestos. The left always won in its analyse.

The first time the CMKOS made a recommendation was before the Senate and regional elections law year. It then recommended to trade unionists and other voters not to cast their votes for the government coalition parties and their candidates.