None of Czech top MPs to attend Olympics in Beijing

Aktuálně.cz national news reporters
17. 4. 2008 14:00
Only Liška and Topolánek mention Tibet as reason
None of the Czech MPs will get to see the Olympic stadium in Beijing
None of the Czech MPs will get to see the Olympic stadium in Beijing | Foto: Reuters

Prague - All the top political representatives of the Czech Republic confirmed that they would not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China this summer.

Czech president Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats) refused to go earlier.  

Yesterday, heads of both chamber of parliament, Přemysl Sobotka (the Senate) and Miloslav Vlček (the Lower Chamber) informed public Czech TV they would not attend the opening ceremony either.

But apart from Minister of Education Ondřej Liška who specifically named as the problem the issue of human rights in Tibet, only PM Topolánek indicated the Tibet question is the reason why he would not go.

During a discussion with students, PM Topolánek admitted that he cannot go to China because of his girlfriend Lucie Talmanová being a member of the Friends of Tibet association.

"I can't do such a thing to her," said Topolánek.

Aktualne.cz has recently informed that PM Topolánek was advised by his ministers not to go to Beijing.

The rest of MPs have entirely different reasons for staying home.

Read more: Czech ministers advise PM to boycott Olympics

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg even asked other European politicians to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing this week.

Klaus and Sobotka provided different explanations of their decision.

Klaus alleged he would be undergoing a surgical treatment at the time when the games will be held.

Přemysl Sobotka (Civic Democrats) explained he was not comfortable with the idea of travelling 7,000 km to attend the ceremony.

"I will not go and the reason is simple; I do not want to travel that far. My interest in sports is enormous and my father actually represented Czechoslovakia at the Olympics in 1936 (in Nazi Germany - note by the edit.) but I had decided way before the Tibet question arised. Should I have to decide today, it would be significantly influenced by the Tibet issue," explained head of Senate Přemysl Sobotka.

Meanwhile, Miloslav Vlček (Social Democrats) remained somewhat mysterious about his decision to not to travel to Bejing.

"It was my own decision not to go. I think it is not very appropriate now to go," said Vlček.

However, he refused the connection with the human rights in Tibet.

"Please do not try to make up a reason I have nothing to do with. I don´t have complete information and I want to decide based on objective information. I don´t want to decide just on some pictures they show me on TV. Moreover, I met the Chinese ambassador here in Prague and she was saying something completely different."

Read more: Poll: Most Czechs want athletes in Beijing

 

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