* New party backs reduction of debt, corruption crackdown
* Led by ex-TV presenter, self-described political neophyte
* Analysts see populist streak
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, May 30 (Reuters) - An obscure Czech party which rode
a wave of public anger with politicians to win 10.9 percent of
the vote in a weekend election has emerged as an unlikely
kingmaker in negotiations on forming a new government.
Public Affairs, which was founded in 2001 but whose
activities were largely confined to local Prague politics until
recently, has now started talks with the right-wing Civic
Democrats and TOP09 parties after they jointly won 118 seats in
the 200-strong lower house this weekend.
Its presence has injected an element of uncertainty into the
negotiations.
The party has an agenda which ranges from demands for big
budget savings and reforms of the pension and health systems to
plans to hike teachers' pay and bring transparency to public
procurement tenders.
It can be right or left, depending on what it thinks is
best, says its chairman Radek John, a 55-year old writer and
former popular television presenter.
"This is clearly a party that plays to people's emotions,
its entire campaign was focused on that," said political analyst
Vladimira Dvorakova.
John's blunt talk and calls for rooting out corruption and
crime have caught on among Czechs, tired of a seemingly endless
string of graft scandals in the mainstream parties.
The party, which was running in its first national election,
plans to cut public debt and clean up the state procurement
system, saying it is closer to the political right on those
issues.
But when pressed on concrete policies, John and other party
officials are less clear.
NEOPHYTE
"I am a political neophyte," he acknowledged in a TV
discussion with the leaders of the other parties on Sunday.
In the roundtable, he appeared to back away from a number of
his party's pledges in the debate, such as a proposal to save
money by merging the interior and defence ministries -- a plan
rejected by other parties.
Jahn was tripped up by moderator in the discussion, being
told that the number of clerks in public service was three times
lower than what John had said it was. Therefore a 10 percent cut
in their number proposed by the party would save less.
"Really? Then the savings will be somewhat less than we had
expected," he said.
The party raised eyebrows by sending teams into the streets
of Prague to ask drug addicts and homeless people leave public
areas -- but it quickly halted the plan when criticism grew.
The party supports direct democracy, and lets anybody who
registers on the Internet as a supporter vote on party policies.
Its anti-graft credentials have also been questioned. Czech
media and rival politicians have speculated the party is a
product of Prague businessmen who wanted to gain influence, an
accusation the party denies.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Noah Barkin)
