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Protesters in Prague delay vote on new city mayor (2nd Roundup)
Nov 30, 2010, 18:21 GMT
Prague - Protesters interrupted the opening session of Prague's city assembly, which met Tuesday to elect a new mayor and councillors.
Former president Vaclav Havel was among the protesters who entered the assembly in city hall and drowned out proceedings with whistles and jeers, forcing the recently elected body to adjourn.
The chamber reconvened at 2 pm (1300 GMT), four hours after its scheduled start, and in the evening elected Bohuslav Sobotka as mayor by a vote of 34-27.
Many people in the Czech capital have been outraged at the city's incoming government formed by two large parties who were defeated in municipal elections held in October.
Voters punished one of them, the centre-right Civic Democrats, for a series of corruption scandals, handing victory to a new conservative party, TOP 09, that promised to clean up city hall.
But the Civic Democrats, who have ruled the Czech capital since 1991, hammered out a coalition deal with the third-placed Social Democrats, bypassing the people's will.
The coalition is viewed by many as an alliance that will allow the Civic Democrats and their business allies, dubbed the godfathers, to maintain control over lucrative business deals.
'Prague is no Palermo,' the angry protesters chanted.
Read more about Czech Politics
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