Prague - The Czech capital´s bid to host 2016 Summer Olympics has barely taken off and the cracks are already appearing among the political representation whose support is crucial if the games are to be held in Prague.
While billboards with Czech celebrities supporting country's candidacy for 2016 or 2020 Olympic games candidacy popped out in Czech and Moravian cities last week, Prague Christian Democrats went public with their opposition towards the plans to hold the major sports event here.
Megalomaniac event
"We are all part of the national team," the billboard campaign states proudly, trying to persuade even those Czechs who are not avid sports fans to support the Olympic bid of the capital city.
Prague branch of the Christian Democratic party, a member of the ruling coalition on the national level, clearly does not want to be part of the team.
"The Olympic games as they are being prepared now, are a megalomaniac event that will impose a heavy burden on the city's budget and also on the national one," said Marián Hošek, Prague leader of the party and national vice leader.
According to Hošek, the Olympic Games could also have a negative influence on Czech capital's image and its atmosphere.
"Prague has an intimate atmosphere and Olympics could ruin it," said Hošek, his opinion shared by another high-ranking party member, the leader of the party faction in the lower house of the parliament, Michaela Šojdrová.
"Prague as I see it is a cultural center and historical city. That is why I think that Olympics would be against the tradition of Prague," she said while conceding the event might actually end up being a boost for the city's social life.
"In any case, we have to make sure that the city could actually afford it," she underscored what seems to be the main bone of contention.
Making loss, or making profit?
Christian Democratic Party leader, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Regional Development Jiří Čunek made it clear when he said that "(as a citizen I think that) the Czech Republic cannot afford the Olympic Games and should concentrate on other things instead".
Christian democrats, traditionally stronger in the rural areas, also lend a sympathetic ear to the worries of smaller towns and cities that fear the games would suck most of the infrastructure development funds from the countryside to Prague.
"If we build one big stadium in Prague we will end up selling air. The Czech state will have to take a huge loan," said one of the party regional leaders, Václav Černý.
The Civic Democratic Party, which leads both the national government and the city council in Prague, continues to be the main supporter of the event with Mayor Pavel Bém, who is also the party's deputy leader, stating his belief that the mega sport event would bring extra income for the city's budget, rather than draining it.
In the meantime, a grouping of Czech and Moravian small town mayors, is calling for a referendum on the matter and is planning to present a draft law later this week which would open the way for holding it.
