Center Applauds Free Czechoslovakian Election, Warns Of Shadows Over Transition To Come

The Center for Security Policy today expressed enthusiastic support for the apparently free and fair elections held in Czechoslovakia on 8-9 June 1990. In so doing, however, it warned that there are forces still present within that nation that could yet imperil — and possibly preclude — the consolidation of democracy promised by this balloting.

These forces are identified in an analysis released today by the Center entitled, ‘Free’ Czechoslovakia?: Shadows Over the Transition. This paper is the latest product of the Center’s Program on Transitions to Democracy.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., the Center’s director, noted in releasing the analysis, "Czechoslovakia is at the threshold of a new and especially hopeful period. Unfortunately, it is a country that has known such hope before only to have it denied by those opposed to democratic self-rule and free-market opportunity. The West must both encourage those who are seeking to fulfill the Czechoslovakian people’s oft-deferred demand for freedom and be vigilant against — and help the Czechoslovaks stave off — those who might seek to prevent its realization once again."

Dr. Constantine Menges, senior associate at the Center and director of the Program on Transitions, noted: "Free elections are the beginning of a critical process in Czechoslovakia — not its end. Before we can be confident that this long-suffering nation will enjoy permanently the political rights and economic opportunities so long denied it, the shadows over the transition must be addressed and dealt with appropriately."

The Center’s analysis identifies the most worrisome such shadows — and offers specific recommendations for the United States and other Western democracies to assist the Czechoslovaks in minimizing the threat they may pose. The following appear capable of endangering the fragile new Czechoslovakian democracy:

• Hard-core elements of the communist party still exist and are functioning, though very discreetly;

 

• The Czechoslovkian secret police are still in business even though precise judgments about their organizational status and power are difficult to render; and

 

• The preponderance of the pre-fall 1989 Soviet military presence and Moscow’s entire diplomatic and, presumably, KGB representation in Czechoslovakia remain in place.

Copies of ‘Free’ Czechoslovakia? may be obtained by contacting the Center.