EDITH KURZWEIL
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essary patience." Uhde responded at another point: "The revolution, though
prepared by Charter 77 and led by artists and dissidents, happened through
the actions of the entire population, but now we have to come to grips with
the problems of daily life."
I gathered that President Havel appoints experts to specific cabinet
posts and then trusts them to do their jobs and to formulate the laws which
Parliament must approve. There, however, is one of the many Catch-22
situations. For example, in November communal elections are to take place
and the laws passed by Parliament are to be ratified. But this means that
there is not enough time to discuss these laws before the National Assembly
disbands for the summer and to organize enough public debate which, among
other things, serves as education for democracy. Without the new laws,
however, the move to the market economy and the many pending agree–
ments with foreign investors cannot be implemented. "In other historical
situations, as for instance during the French revolution, the economy was
ready, the bourgeoisie already controlled the finances. But we defeated the
Communists who had run the country into the ground and thus must start
from zero. We need the help ofexperienced people, and we don't even know
how to judge them, and whom to trust. Even in my limited field, we have
trouble because print shops lack presses, and their techniques are outdated,"
Uhde told me.
The most immediate trouble, however, was the shortage of gasoline.
While wondering whether or not Minister Klaus in his radio address was
telling the truth or trying to calm the panic at the gas stations (rumor had it
that the Soviet Union would interrupt its supply), Minister Uhde told me that
his chauffeur had spent many hours in line to receive his allotted five gallons.
So had the taxi driver who reluctantly consented to take me to the Castle the
following day.
Although I had been apprised of the grandeur of the baroque Castle
and the gothic cathedral it surrounds, I was totally unaware that I would
witness a changing of the guard. Every bit as festive as the ceremony at
Buckingham Palace, Havel's bluish-gray uniformed, trim and shiny sentries
marched, saluted, and replaced each other to the tune of red-clad trumpeters
whose instruments sparkled from their posts on upstairs balconies. This was
theater in action, and a reminder that this government incorporates tradition
in
its revolution. The crowd was moved, and I noticed two middle-aged men
wipe away a few tears.
Inside the Castle, security seemed minimal, although I had to wait for
Arita Huckova to meet me downstairs. Part of the group that signed Charter
77, she beamed while showing me "her" Castle as any proud homeowner
would. And she immediately informed me that she had arranged another in–
terview for me, which had to take place at once. Until she presented me to
Petr Oslzly, who is in his early forties, I had thought that all Czechs were
