Final Word from Thursday, December 12, 2002
"Your article on Mon. about Vladimír Špidla sounds like wishful thinking to me," said entrepreneur Eduard Míka, "because Špidla is a socialist by nature, and this says it all." If Špidla and the socialists start getting results (as we suggested), it will be too late for the country, he said. Whatever Špidla did would harm the business environment over the long term, he argued. Business leaders can only blame themselves for this, he added, because they haven't done enough to sort out the right wing of the political scene. The business community was watching idly by as the right defended its own interests, fought for positions for its leaders, and then let the socialist devil grab power after the 1998 elections. The business community needs to begin to act now, he concluded, to rid the country of the socialists in the 2006 elections and to minimize the damage until then.