President-elect Petr Pavel.
Prague – The new president Petr Pavel should create an online lobby diary in which the public will be able to find meetings of the president, his close associates, advisers and senior staff of the presidential office (KPR) . The non-governmental organization Transparency International (IT) recommended it to him today. Among the seven recommendations, she also named the publication of the complete text of KPR audits by the Supreme Audit Office and the setting up of transparent tenders.
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Photo gallery: President-elect Petr Pavel
“Opening the Castle not only to visitors, but especially to greater public scrutiny is the right step by the newly elected President Petr Pavel. Now, however, it is important that this intention be accompanied by specific well-thought-out measures that meet the standards and principles observed in Western countries,” said TI director Ondřej Kopečný.
“Although the president does not have the authority to enforce specific anti-corruption laws, but if he sets a good example, he can contribute to the fact that other public institutions will gradually start raising the bar of political culture as well,” he added.
According to TI, a public lobbying diary on the castle website would prevent potential conflicts of interest by publishing the meetings together with details of who discussed what. Based on another recommendation, Pavel should publicly define the advisory team and the people with whom he officially consults on policy and the performance of the presidency. The castle website should also provide a complete list of donors who donated over 50,000 crowns in the presidential campaign. It should also present a list of social networks and official accounts through which the president, KPR and its employees will communicate, as well as indicate who manages all these accounts.
Publication of the complete text of audits by the SAO should then include how those that the office carried out during the era of Pavlov's predecessor, Miloš Zeman, as well as those that Pavel commissioned himself.
Transparent selection procedures and HR processes should, according to TI, concern the KPR and the Lány Forestry Administration that falls under it, Administration of the Prague Castle and the Military Office of the President of the Republic and the Castle Guard. TI also suggested drafting a code of ethics for the presidential office, which should also be available on the Castle's website.
TI recalled that during Zeman's ten-year tenure, she drew attention to irregularities connected with the operation of the CPR under the leadership of Vratislav Mynář. She also pointed to the non-transparency of both Zeman's presidential campaigns and unclear sponsorship donations. According to TI, Pavel's ascension to Hrad is “an opportunity to distinguish himself from the misdeeds of his predecessor, or rather his KPR, and especially to set a clear tone of the highest political integrity to Czech society and political representation”.
