Final Word from Friday, April 1, 2005
Would a two-party minority cabinet of ČSSD and US-DEU be such a bad thing? True, the Communists would be in a position to topple the government at any time and could use this for leverage. Yet, if we put aside the negative symbolism of having a widely discredited Stanislav Gross as premier, his minority cabinet could make some progress. It would do a better job on the EU constitution than a provisional or ODS government and could continue with bankruptcy, tax and pension reform. The new coalition of ODS and KDU-ČSL would make passage of any meaningful legislation difficult, esp. if the proposals were viewed as political. The role of Martin Jahn, the deputy premier for economics, could become crucial. As an independent, he might be able to depoliticize key economic issues and encourage ODS/KDU to cooperate in the best interest of the country. [Czech Republic political crisis]