Dubček not a symbol of the Velvet Revolution

Pavol Paška, Speaker of the Slovak parliament, has called Alexander Dubček, the leader of the Communist Party during Prague Spring in 1968, a symbolic figure of  the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The liberal daily Sme cannot agree: "Dubček simply can't be compared with Václav Havel. The latter was a dissident, the former a dyed in the wool communist. ... Dubček never managed to free himself from of the fetters of communism. He never outgrew the year 1968. He never put in doubt the leading role of the party. And he never gave other parts of society more attention than the ex-communicated communists. ... Socialism ended in November 1989. For that reason one of its chief exponents cannot be called a symbol of the Velvet Revolution. Otherwise November 17 couldn't be a holiday, at least not for those who never belonged to the Communist Party."

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