Final Word from Thursday, June 6, 2019
Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský of the Constitutional Court stated last month that the street protests have had a positive effect. "No one would dare now to sack the supreme state prosecutor at the drop of a hat," he said. Two weeks and two protests later, the supreme state prosecutor in question, Pavel Zeman, appeared on the contentious debate show OVM and said that although he had only breezed through the preliminary audit of the EU Commission into Andrej Babiš's conflict of interest, there could be reason in it to suspect criminal behavior. This remark called into question the actions of dozens of people and elevated the discussion to a much higher level. The code of ethics for prosecutors in effect since May 1 proscribes behavior that disadvantages any individual. Firing Zeman for an ethical violation would undoubtedly have the cost of further protests and one-sided TV debates. From the angle of businessman Babiš, though, it could be a question of cutting one's losses. [ Czech Republic disciplinary prosecutor general Agrofert European Union ]
Glossary of difficult words
cost/benefit (analysis) - a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives;
at the drop of a hat - all of a sudden;
contentious - controversial;
to breeze through - to skim; to review quickly;
to proscribe - to forbid;
to cut one's losses - to withdraw from a losing situation to prevent more losses.