Czech Communist Leader Is Ousted From Upper House
Parliament on Monday ousted the Communist Party chief from its upper house after his criticisms of government reforms prompted nationwide anti-Communist protests.
The dismissal of Communist Chairman Vasil Mohorita followed President Vaclav Havel’s firing last week of Gen. Miroslav Vacek as defense minister to regain civilian control of the military after four decades of Communist rule.
Mohorita was dismissed from the 40-member Parliament Presidium, the upper house in the 300-seat bicameral National Assembly. He will remain a deputy in the lower house. The state news agency CTK did not say who would replace him.
Meantime, stepping up the anti-Communist campaign ahead of local elections in November, Havel on Monday renewed his call for the abolition of the Warsaw Pact, saying it is an “outdated tool of Stalinist expansion.”
In a broadcast on state radio, he said that he would propose to abolish the Warsaw Pact’s joint military command at a summit of the military alliance in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 3-4.
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