Prague's Jews agree to hold elections in fall

The Prague Jewish community, affected by split into two wings openly hostile to each other, is planning to elect its new executive after the summer, Frantisek Banyai has told the news agency CTK. Banyai, who is the interim chairman of the community, said that an assembly had decided to postpone the early elections envisage for June. A electoral committee in which representatives from both side are equally represented has also been formed. "The election order has set certain deadlines, so it will not be possible to manage it in June," said Tomas Jelinek, a member of the community and Banyai's opponent. A part of the community considers the dismissal of Jelinek as chairman last autumn to be invalid. "The Jewish community is aware of the rift which must be solved in early elections as soon as possible", Jelinek told CTK. Both Banyai and Jelinek said that the assembly meeting was calm. Past disputes between the two camps ended in brawls, and in some cases, the police had to be called.