Final Word from Friday, February 9, 2007
Whenever we mention Miloš Zeman, we receive a flood of letters. "You exaggerate his influence," is the usual complaint. On his Idées Fixes blog, Petr Koubský questioned whether we aren't becoming obsessed with the man. Zeman himself was kind enough to refer to us as idiots on Czech TV's "168 hodin." The real issue is whether Zeman wants to be president, and we say that, liver willing, that's his goal. We might even dare say it's his obsession, but whether he achieves it is a totally different matter. It could only happen if the first two rounds of voting failed to produce a winner and Zeman were dragged "against his will" to Prague for the final round. Zeman is betting everything on this risky card, and Mirek Topolánek is using it to his advantage. If Topolánek is merely leading Zeman on, he could be the next person to appear on Zeman's list of "rats" who need to be exterminated.[Czech Republic Television presidency deratization]