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Not afraid to speak his mind

Shadow Health Minister David Rath takes criticism in stride

By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 16th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
A staunch critic of the ODS's policies, Rath expresses his disdain for its "family values" and profit-oriented priorities.
JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Nurses provided free care during the general strike June 24 against ODS-supported healthcare reforms.
The Rath file



Born: Prague, 1965
Education: M.D., Charles University
Current position: Shadow health minister
Previous positions: President of the Czech Medical Chamber, health minister
Party: Social Democratic (ČSSD)

Rath is known for his colorful criticisms of fellow politicians in the press. A few highlights:

"Some of his relatives are mafia members; there are reports of shooting and secret business deals."
On Miroslav Kalousek, finance minister

"The only thing he ever did in Parliament was to propose an amendment that would force pedestrians to cross the street in groups."
On Miloš Melčák, member of Parliament

"People are going to die because of his mistakes."
On Tomáš Julínek, health minister

"He is a capricious old man."
On President Václav Klaus

"You switched off my microphone. Your behavior, Mr. Chairman, is unacceptable."
To Miloslav Vlček, chairman, Chamber of Deputies
Probably no other Czech politician inspires such strong emotions as shadow health minister of the Social Democrats (ČSSD), David Rath. While supporters hail his candid wit, opponents condemn his trademark verbal attacks.
“I just can’t help myself,” he said. “ODS Chairman Mirek Topolánek in particular really inspires me, and when he sets the ball I have to go for the kill. Maybe we could try stand-up comedy together when we retire.”
In his most recent confrontation, Rath accused Health Minister Tomáš Julínek of corruption and accepting bribes from pharmaceutical companies during a parliamentary session. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) immediately complained to the chamber watchdog committee. “These scandalous accusations are typical of Rath and I will seek an apology through the parliamentary channels available to me,” Julínek responded.
But Rath dismisses the case against him. “I have definite proof that Julínek’s civic association received gifts worth millions of crowns from foreign pharmaceutical companies and that to me looks like bribery or at least a conflict of interest,” he said. “However, in Parliament, truth is decided by voting, and if the ODS has enough votes, it can pass a law stating that the Earth is flat and orbited by the sun.”
A Prague native, Rath completed his medical degree at Charles University, then practiced medicine at the General Teaching Hospital in Prague and the Faculty Hospital in Motol. He joined the internal medicine faculty at Charles University in 1995.
Switching sides
Even though Rath is now a loyal Social Democrat, his political career started in the early 1990s when he became one of the first members of the newly formed ODS. The chairman of the new party was Václav Klaus, then the Finance Minister.
“Klaus’ financial reforms were based on working social models in other European countries,” he said, “but he changed from a center social democrat into a right-wing neo-liberal.  I quickly found that most people in the party are only interested in stealing as much as they can from public funds, so I quickly left.”
Rath went on to become the president of the Czech Medical Chamber (an umbrella organization for physicians) in 1998 and remained in that position until 2005, when then Prime Minster Jiří Paroubek asked him to head the Health Ministry. He took the post wanting to initiate long-needed reforms. “However, most of my time there was spent arguing with civil servants who kept trying to amend laws each week without really thinking about the usefulness of those changes,” he recalled. “Even today, each parliamentary session is flooded with paperwork. We have to get through 60 laws of 200 pages each. It is impossible to study so much material in such a short time.”
Rath now thinks the government should concentrate on making as few changes as possible and only when absolutely necessary. “The current administration is trying to build a new system from scratch with ‘efficiency’ and ‘profit’ as their keywords,” he said. “They think everything can be measured in financial terms. But if you pay firemen based on the amount of fires they put out each month, firemen will start setting everything on fire in order to make more money. Some public services are beyond monetary value.”
Regarding this year’s controversial reforms to the healthcare system, his assessment is similarly unapologetic.
“The ODS is trying to force hospitals to work for profit; the party doesn’t just see it as a beneficial service,” he observed, adding, “You have to wonder if these men have sex. After all, it is not worth anything and there is no profit in it.”
Fisticuffs
Rath will likely be long remembered for his fight with former Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Macek at a dentists’ conference in May 2006. Macek walked up to him and hit the unsuspecting Rath from behind.
“He accused me of marrying my wife only because she was rich. I had to defend my honor. Some things cannot be left unpunished,” recalled Macek who was later fined for having initiated the violence.
Rath has his own take on the incident. “It is a sad thing when politicians lack arguments and have to resort to physical violence, especially in such a cowardly manner from behind,” he said.
Sometimes though, it is easy to see why other politicians would want to hit Rath.
“The best thing to happen to the country would be if parliamentary sessions were constantly obstructed as it was after the last election [in 2006],” Rath said. “When we had no proper government, we were better off, since Topolánek could not travel abroad and embarrass the country as he does now. We saw that the system works without politicians.”
Statements like that are likely to make him even more enemies, but Rath is used to criticism from all sides.
One politician that has had a few run-ins with Rath is the Christian Democratic (KDU-ČSL) Finance Minister Miloslav Kalousek. “A person like Rath could never be nominated by our party. He lacks any moral fiber and his adultery is incompatible with our Christian values,” said Kalousek, referring to the fact that, for the past 10 years, Rath has openly admitted that besides his family he also raises a child with another woman.
Rath is quick to dismiss such accusations. “In the Czech Republic, family values are not as important for politicians as they are in the United States, for example. Both Topolánek and Paroubek have admitted to extra-marital affairs after the tabloids reported them, and there was no drop in their popularity. At least I am an honorable man and have never hidden anything from anyone.”
It is true that such affairs have not had measurable influence on voter support, but then not many things in the Czech Republic do.
The Christian Democrats might have strong opinions on abortion and adultery, but, when it comes to lying, cheating and bribery they are much more lenient. Their chairman, Jiří Čunek, for example, has been accused of bribery and corruption, and his case has angered voters. Yet he has returned to his post as deputy prime minister and it seems that his party is fully behind him.
“Politicians will always try to do whatever they can get away with,” Rath said of such scandals. “Unless voters clearly state their disgust with the situation in the upcoming election, there will be many more Čuneks and their crimes will get much bigger.”  

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at tempo@praguepost.com


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