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Kurzweil: In other words, they were trying to get help for themselves
personally, while he was trying to revamp the entire government, the
constitution, and the legal system.
Kriseova: Yes. The constitution, the legislation, and everything else. But
that was the task of parliament. The president is elected by the parlia–
ment and is not as powerful as in the United States or France. We don't
have a presidential system.
Kurzweil: Yes, but was the parliament newly elected, as well?
Kriseova: No, it was the old parliament. Some of its members were fired
and others were co-opted. So it was a mixture. In June
1990,
we had
elections; the parliament was changed. Anyway, you know this history.
From today's perspective, it was a mistake. The elections should have
taken place later on, so that the parliament would have had more time
to build a basic and more serious legislative system. The entire process
of liberation and privatization should have been guided by a more spe–
cific law. But that time is gone. Then, we were full of hope and eupho–
ria. We were very idealistic, very romantic.
It
was one of the best times
of my life, because it was so active. Everything seemed possible.
Kurzweil: Well, one felt that enthusiasm when one came
to
visit.
Kriseova: It was a wonderful atmosphere, mainly during the first year.
In the second year, eve rything was already more complicated. But in
1992,
before the split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, our presi–
dent resigned. Our circle of about ten to fifteen people resigned with
him. In
T993
he was elected president of the Czech Republic. After that,
he felt that times had changed. He needed an office with bureaucrats,
and I use that term in the good sense. We were all creative people and
wanted to go back to our professions-architecture, writing, playwrit–
ing, screenplay writing. One of us became ambassador to the United
States and now is a senator.
It
seems like a long time ago. When I look
back, I am quite disappointed, because our expectations were let down.
Kurzweil: To what do you attribute this?
Kriseova: First of all, I think I didn't know enough about people. Not
only the Czechs, but all of mankind. We made lots of mistakes. On the
other hand, being in politics, observing this transformation, is such a
