PRAGUE, May 26 (Reuters) - Czechs will elect a new
parliament on May 28-29 in a vote pitting leftists promising to
hike taxes on the rich and raise benefits against rightists who
say a win by the left could lead to state bankruptcy.
The following are the main political parties' campaign
pledges.
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (CSSD)
* The main leftist party pledges to cut the state budget
deficit in half to below 3 percent of economic output by 2013,
and set the country on course to balance the budget by 2018.
* It wants to cancel fees for visiting the doctor introduced
by the previous centre-right government.
* It pledges to pay an extra pension benefit funded by
dividends from state-owned power group CEZ and is against
creating private accounts as part of the pension system.
* It plans to re-introduce a progressive tax system with a
38 percent income tax rate for the highest wage earners, from
the current 15 percent. It will also raise the corporate tax
rate to 21 percent from 19 percent.
* The party wants a new Regulatory and Price Office for
regulation in services from electricity to telecommunication and
banking, and has attacked high power prices for households.
* The party is against raising the number of Czech troops in
NATO's Afghanistan mission.
CIVIC DEMOCRATS (ODS)
* The main rightist party promises to cut the state budget
deficit in half to under 3 percent of GDP by 2012 and balance
the budget by 2017.
* It has pledged not to raise taxes, saying the rises put in
place by the caretaker cabinet are enough.
* It plans a constitutional law setting budget ceilings on
spending and that punishes lawmakers for breaking those rules.
* It wants to use privatisation proceeds to fund the
introduction of state-backed private pension accounts to
supplement the pay-as-you-go system.
* The party wants to cut down on benefits abuse and cut off
welfare for people who are unemployed for more than two months
and refuse re-qualification courses or public work.
* The party supports the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and
supported now-abandoned plans for missile shield that angered
Moscow.
COMMUNISTS (KSCM)
* The far-left party, the third largest in the current
parliament, wants higher direct taxes and to maintain the
current welfare system.
* It is for stronger state involvement in key economic
segments and is against further privatisation.
* It is against NATO and supports a European defence force.
TOP09
* The most conservative party aims to set a euro adoption
target date as quickly as possible.
* It wants to cut the structural budget deficit in "a short
period of time" and cut mandatory spending, along with reducing
government costs by 20 percent.
* Plans to work out balance budget as soon as the economy
resumes growth at around 2 percent. It has said government
budgets should be balanced or in surplus in periods of growth.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS (VV)
* The centrist party wants public budgets balanced by 2014,
but it has not given proposals for specific structural cuts.
* The party supports a cut in direct taxes and rises in
indirect taxes, such as VAT.
* It also proposes cutting government procurement spending
by 20 percent, and reducing the number of state clerks by 10
percent.
