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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Ex-prime minister, a longtime Internet foe, launches Web site
By Brian Peters
With his eyeglasses dangling demurely from his mouth and gray and disco-red signature scrawled across the black background, Vaclav Klaus, the head of the conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and chairman of the Lower House of Parliament, has joined the Internet revolution.
This, of course, is the same Klaus who has been one of the most outspoken Czech politicians, along with Prime Minister Milos Zeman, against the Internet. Klaus has described the World Wide Web as a destructive influence that "atomizes" society by isolating individuals from each other.
Klaus, prime minister for much of the 1990s, and Zeman went so far as to call last New Year's Y2K computer bug scare a hoax cooked up by greedy software companies.
"I simply can't join those who see the Internet, satellite television, teletext, mobile telephones and other similar inventions as a new era of mankind," Klaus said in 1997. "I am reminded of communist times. Communist leaders liked very much to talk about the 'scientific and technological revolution' in a very similar way."
Now, the only thing missing from Klaus' sleek site is a little dance music to complete the mood.
The motivation behind the technological transformation seems fairly simple -- politics.
"ODS supporters are among the most urban, wealthy and well-educated voters," said Jonathan Stein, an analyst with the EastWest Institute. "These are people that are more likely than not to have access to the Internet and to use the Internet on a regular basis."
Klaus points out on his site that this is Klaus the citizen, not the politician. By doing so, he has led some to speculate about what Klaus wants to get out of portraying himself as an ordinary citizen.
"One outside possibility ... is that there have been persistent rumors that Klaus is interested in succeeding [Vaclav] Havel [as president]," Stein said. "[Such a site] would give him more scope to carve out a non-party position, which would be an obvious prerequisite for running for president."
President since the Velvet Revolution, Havel's lack of party affiliation is widely seen as an example to be followed by the next president, who functions more as a mediator than a participant in parliamentary politics.
On his site, Klaus states that he has finally grasped the value of the Internet, which he says has moved beyond a mere fad to something that communicates with enough people to make it an important tool.
Also on the Czech-only Web site is a brief biography of Klaus, as well as a list of interviews, books and articles about him and that he has written.
One shortcoming, however, is that the site offers no chance for chatting -- making citizen Klaus a lot like politician Klaus, who rarely gives interviews.
Political web sites
Brian Peters' e-mail address is
bpeters@praguepost.cz
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