Plzen, West Bohemia, Aug 30 (CTK) – The Social Democrats (CSSD) want to guarantee social services for people, their leader, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, said at the launch of the party’s campaign before the autumn regional elections yesterday.
“Our main slogan is that people need their certainties… The regions guarantee many substantial public services on which people are dependent very much,” Sobotka told CTK.
The CSSD opposes the privatisation of public services and the purchases of real estate owned by regions, it wants to guarantee the availability of the public services provided by the regions, such as healthcare and social services, secondary schools and public regional transport, he said in Plzen where his party started the campaign.
The CSSD also wants to support young families and elderly people, Sobotka said.
Eleven of the 13 Czech regional governors are Social Democrats, and seven of them will be defending their posts.
“I would be very glad if the CSSD had a governor in most of the regions,” he said.
Sobotka said the party had specific election programmes for individual regions.
He said unemployment was a problem in the Usti Region and the Moravia-Silesia Region, support to farmers played a crucial role in Central Bohemia, South Moravia and Vysocina, while the transport connection and the quality of roads was important in all the regions.
The CSSD has fielded 720 candidates in the 13 regions and at least 40 percent of them are women, Sobotka said.
The elections will be held on October 7-8.
The costs of the CSSD campaign are projected at 80 million crowns.
Along with the regional elections, one third of the 81 seats in the upper house of parliament will be contested.
Sobotka said he would like the CSSD to maintain the position of the strongest party in the Senate.
($1=24.192 crowns)
