Final Word from Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Premier Vladimír Špidla is an obstinate socialist by character, but as a politician he occasionally shows a refreshing willingness to listen to economic reason. He's pushing for a gradual reduction in the corporate-tax rate, and yesterday he announced plans to lower the social-security payments made by companies. These efforts will win him friends among foreign investors but will bring him into conflict with the unions on the one side and the "privatizers" on the other. This is a group of influential cross-party politicians (e.g. Stanislav Gross of ČSSD, Vlastimil Tlustý of ODS and Miroslav Kalousek of KDU-ČSL) who are maneuvering to take advantage of the next big round of sell-offs. A campaign against "rich" foreign investors will make it easier for them to sell the remaining jewels to Czech insiders. Špidla is standing in the way and therefore must go.