Final Word from Friday, April 26, 2002
Prague Mayor Jan Kasl engineered a partial political victory yesterday by nearly silencing opponents on the city assembly who had sought to hang him for apologizing for corruption at city hall. He submitted a nine-point plan for reducing corruption and challenged the assembly to implement it. The plan met with criticism, but Kasl succeeded in getting his opponents to admit that corruption does indeed exist. It's now up to them to show how serious they are about eliminating it. They can either work with him to implement the plan, or they can quietly bury it. Kasl says he probably won't run for reelection this fall because he lacks support within his party. If ODS decides to drop Kasl, who is turning into one of the CR's more astute reform-minded politicians, it will be a sign that the only thing likely to change at city hall is the name on the mayor's door.