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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000057 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EINV EZ
SUBJECT: CORRUPTIONISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC 
 
REF: A. PRAGUE 16 
     ¶B. PRAGUE 25 
     ¶C. 09 PRAGUE 657 
     ¶D. 09 PRAGUE 147 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones for reasons 1.4 (b 
) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  A recent cartoon caption in a leading Czech 
daily captured what most Czech view as the country's biggest 
systemic problem:  "We have had capitalism, and socialism 
too.  Now we have corruptionism."  To address corruption, the 
interim government of PM Jan Fischer has approved a 
legislative proposal that includes immunized witnesses, 
undercover agents and wiretaps.  Politicians are eager to be 
seen as proactive on corruption, but the issue is mired in 
partisanship and the proposal will probably be diluted as it 
moves through parliament.  The proposed package is a small 
step in the right direction but not enough.  Current 
anti-corruption laws are rarely enforced; truly fixing the 
problem will require strong enforcement and committed 
leadership.  Unfortunately, neither appears on the immediate 
horizon.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Since the early 1990s, the Czech Republic has 
experienced what one academic called a "mind-numbing" number 
of corruption scandals.  Interior Minister Martin Pecina, 
speaking to a group of U.S. business representatives on 
January 22, called corruption in the Czech Republic a 
"growing" problem that he claimed has become worse in the 
past three years.  Pecina's comments should be taken with a 
grain of salt --  he is affiliated with the center-left 
Social Democrats (CSSD), and his comment was clearly aimed 
the center-right Civic Democrat (ODS) government of PM Mirek 
Topolanek in power from 2006 until March 2009. 
 
¶3.  (C) Most analysts agree that the onset of widespread, 
systemic corruption flourished during the grand coalition 
government that was formed after the 1998 parliamentary 
elections.  Under this so-called "opposition agreement," the 
two major parties (CSSD and ODS) carved up the ministries, 
splitting control over the important ministries (defense, 
finance, transportation) that oversee procurement, public 
tenders and real estate development. Since then, the major 
parties have tightened their grip on these key ministries, 
controlling their tenders and contracts.  In addition, the 
Czech Republic has seen its ranking in Transparency 
International's corruption perceptions index fall three times 
in the last three years.  This put the Czech Republic behind 
most Western European countries and all neighboring 
countries, except Slovakia.  According to TI's Czech Republic 
Director David Ondracka, Czech's 2009 ranking highlights the 
need for structural reform and the country's lack of an 
anti-corruption government strategy. 
 
Anti-Corruption Proposal 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) To address the problem, the interim government of 
PM Jan Fischer, which currently enjoys high approval ratings, 
has approved an anti-corruption package to submit to 
parliament.  Minister Pecina identified the key provisions of 
the package as: 1) permitting the use of wiretaps in 
corruption investigations; 2) giving the government more 
power to access financial data from private companies; 3) 
allowing undercover police work in corruption cases as more 
than "just observers", including allowing undercover officers 
to offer suspects supposed bribes; and 4) creation of a 
"crown witness" program (i.e., immunity from prosecution for 
turning state's witness).  The crown witness program has been 
a major obstacle to prosecution and is largely illegal under 
Czech law, although a new criminal code that took affect 
January 1 permits reduced sentences for state's witnesses in 
limited situations. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to Pecina, the government put forth these 
four measures because they were the least controversial of 
the measures considered by the government of PM Fischer. 
However, both the crown witness and the undercover agent 
proposals have proved controversial.  Pecina also noted that 
the government is discussing a second anti-corruption package 
that would make Czech public procurement law more transparent 
and would prohibit anonymous shares (i.e. bearer bonds) in 
Czech companies.  For example, Pecina said the use of bearer 
bonds made it impossible to tell who owned companies 
currently renting government-owned office space at 
sweetheart-deal prices -- in buildings owned by his own 
ministry. 
 
Political Opposition to the Proposal 
 
PRAGUE 00000057  002 OF 003 
 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Politicians are eager to be seen as proactive on 
corruption.  CSSD chair Jiri Paroubek claims he regards 
corruption as a "cancer" in society and that his party was 
the only one to openly criticize the systemic corruption of 
the Topolanek government.  Paroubek and CSSD are pushing 
Pecina's proposal in parliament. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) However, there is already political opposition to 
the proposal.  ODS chair (and former PM) Topolanek has 
countered that Pecina's proposal is only an example of 
pre-election "populism," thus linking the anti-corruption 
package clearly to Paroubek, who is often accused of 
unabashed populism.  Topolanek voiced no objection to the 
crown witness program.  However, he has said the undercover 
agents could lead to entrapment and the expanded use of 
wiretapping was a "step backward" -- a clear effort to 
associate Pecina's package and CSSD to the excesses of the 
former Communist regime.  Topolanek said that ODS would 
support the legislation through the first reading in 
parliament and then propose its own changes to the 
anti-corruption package.  (Note: Normally there are three 
readings in parliament before a bill can be passed and move 
on to the Senate. End Note.) 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Similarly, Supreme Court Justice Pavel Samal warned 
that the anti-corruption package proposed by Pecina gives the 
police powers not related directly to corruption 
investigations.  He said that if the package passes as is the 
ability of the police to restrict human rights and freedom 
will be "among the greatest in the world."  When he spoke to 
U.S. business representatives, Pecina said wanted to show 
critics that the measures he is proposing, which he claimed 
are similar to U.S. law, did "not decrease the level of 
freedom" in the U.S. 
 
¶9.  (C) The International Secretary for the Christian 
Democrats (KDU-CSL) told poloff that KDU-CSL would support 
the anti-corruption package in parliament.  Pavel Severa, a 
TOP 09 Deputy Chairman, commented that TOP would support the 
package, except for the undercover agents, also citing 
entrapment concerns. 
 
Enforcement and Leadership are Critical 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) David Ondracka of TI called the anti-corruption 
package "a tiny miracle," saying it will send the right 
signal.  But leading political scientist Vladimira Dvorakova 
pointed out that "you can pass a lot of laws, but if there's 
no outside control or pressure to enforce them, it doesn't 
work."  The problem, she noted, is clearly accountability. 
"We have the right to ask the politicians questions, but if 
he or she doesn't answer, that's it.  Nothing happens." 
Pollster Jan Hartl pointed out to poloffs that Czech voters 
habitually do not punish corruption at the polls because, he 
claimed, voters are resigned to corruption as an inevitable 
part of Czech politics. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Jo Weaver, board member of the International 
Business Forum, which represents British firms, noted that, 
"the general feeling is that about 90 percent of the public 
tenders in the UK are clean, and 10 percent are not, whereas 
here (the Czech Republic) the feeling is that about 99.9 
percent are dirty" (Comment:  In our view, this is an 
exaggeration.  End comment). 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The same sentiment was echoed on January 19 at an 
AmCham roundtable on proposed public procurement reform. 
Business representatives discussed their individual 
experiences with corruption, highlighting how tenders are 
tailored to particular bidders and describing the 
bureaucratic pitfalls that are used to thwart unwanted bids. 
Passage of the anti-corruption package is important to the 
AmCham, as it believes the window of opportunity to take 
action is prior to the upcoming election.  AmCham also 
understands that enforcement is critical to solving the 
corruption problem, and is lobbying parliament for 
legislation that addresses core problems. 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  AmCham members have warned that Pecina's package 
does not go nearly far enough, and AmCham has reached out 
directly to PM Fischer to express their concerns over 
corruption and has offered concrete suggestions to combat it. 
 These include the abolition of bearer bonds; a requirement 
that all bidders for government contacts reveal their true 
owners; tighter restrictions on the use of no-bid contracts; 
requiring decisions to use no-bid contracts be made by the 
cabinet and not individual ministries; requiring government 
entities to report not only the bid price but the actual 
price of contracts following cost overruns; and joining the 
Convention on the Protection of the European Communities 
 
PRAGUE 00000057  003 OF 003 
 
 
Financial Interests and the Convention on the Fight Against 
Corruption Involving Officials of the European Communities or 
the Officials of EU Member States. 
 
A Matter of Perspective -- and Leadership 
---------------------------=------------- 
 
¶14.  (C) Comment:  The Czech Republic ranked 52nd out of 180 
on the TI 2009 corruption perceptions index; so corruption 
here is not nearly in the same league as European countries 
further east.  However, among EU countries on the TI index, 
the Czech Republic is tied for 20th out of 27.  Corruption is 
a serious problem here, inhibiting business, including U.S. 
business, and poisoning domestic politics.  The Czechs can 
and should do better.  Pecina's proposal is a step in the 
right direction, but ultimately the solution to the 
corruption problem will require electing a strong, committed 
leader who has a like-minded cabinet.  Unfortunately, no such 
political leader has yet emerged.  Until one does, the Czech 
public will remain rightly skeptical of its leaders, equating 
politics with "corruptionism."  End Comment. 
Thompson-Jones