Prague - The presidential election is coming to a head and the growing tension is undeniably in the air.
On Sunday in a televised round-table debate, the prime minister Mirek Topolánek assaulted presidential hopeful Jan Švejnar by calling his campaign a "pro-corruption" one. Topolánek eventually left the TV debate to attend a tennis match in Brno.
Presidential candidate Švejnar, nominated by the Social Democrats and supported by the Greens, however, didn´t let go Topolánek´s remark. He documented how much the campaign has cost him so far, expecting the same from the incumbent president Václav Klaus.
US-based economist Švejnar calculated that the campaign costs went up to 750 thousand CZK so far, but the original estimated costs were half a million. He allegedly pays for the campaign himself.
Švejnar a "victim"?
"Švejnar is the victim of a long-term deal," said Toplánek in the televised debate, hinting at Švejnar´s activities in the Supervisory Board of ČSOB, which happens to be in a lawsuit with the Czech Republic.
"There is room for corruption. Sure the campaign didn´t cost 500 thousand Czech crowns but maybe euros," added Topolánek.
"Mr. Topolánek claims that my expenses are 500,000 euros, which is almost 13 million CZK. That must mean the prime minister of the Czech Republic either doesn´t know the current exchange rate of CZK to euro, or has no idea about prices in this country," says Švejnar in a press statement.
The press release also listed single items of his campaign.
Chinese Wall between Švejnar and ČSOB
Švejnar challenged Topolánek to submit the evidence that his campaign is corrupted. Topolánek let him know that he doesn´t need to do anything like that.
"I froze my membership in the Supervisory Board of ČSOB in November 2007. I put a so called Chinese Wall between me and ČSOB. That means I don´t take part in any negotiations, I don't receive any information from ČSOB and I don't receive any payments either," explained Švejnar.
"I hope the other candidate - Václav Klaus will document how he separates his presidential expenses from the expenses associated with his re-election," added Švejnar.
Estimated costs of Jan Švejnar´s campaign:
- office rent ... 150,000 CZK
- phone calls ... 140,000 CZK
- trips to the regions (7) ... 115,000 CZK
- car rent ... 90,000 CZK
- compensation for the administration staff... 100,000 CZK
- web pages ... 35,000 CZK
- press conferences ... 40,000 CZK
- office supplies, taxi, miscellaneous.... 80,000 CZK
- total sum ... 750,000 CZK
