Final Word from Monday, December 2, 2002
Ex-Justice Minister Jaroslav Bureš, we are told, is much more ambitious than he is smart. His oversized presidential ambitions nearly ruined his political career once, but a surprise second-place finish behind Miloš Zeman in ČSSD's informal presidential referendum has given him a new chance. He's in line to be ČSSD's candidate in the first set of presidential elections (Zeman refuses to run until the second set), but he must now ask himself whether this is a smart move. If he runs, he'll have no chance of winning, and he'll risk being laughed at forever. If he refuses to run on the grounds that only Zeman should be ČSSD's candidate, he'll leave with honor and will be an obvious choice when the justice ministry becomes available again. Bureš is much more useful to his country as a distinguished justice minister than as a ridiculed ex-presidential candidate.