THE Czech Parliament opened the door to prosecute former Defence
Minister Vlasta Parkanová on abuse of power by revoking her
parliamentary immunity on July 11th. This could be the death
knell of parliamentarians’ immunity.  Investigators allege that
Ms Parkanová did not seek expert advice before signing
a contract worth 3.5 billion Czech crowns ($168m) for four CASA
transport planes in 2009. They contend that the contract was
overpriced by 658 million crowns. While Ms Parkanová denies all
wrongdoing, the four planes have broken down several times in
the interim.  Parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly in favour of
censuring Ms Parkanová: 117 MPs present voted for the motion and
just 45 against. Parliamentarians of Prime Minister Petr Nečas’
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) split their vote with 14 of them
for and 14 against sanctioning Ms Parkanová. TOP 09, Ms
Parkanová’s own party, saw just seven MPs vote for waiving her
immunity and 30 against.  Ms Parkanová was a member of the now
extra-parliamentary Christian