Final Word from Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Newly elected ČSSD Chairman Stanislav Gross and his first vice chair, Bohuslav Sobotka, don't get along well with Miloš Zeman but are increasingly using his old strategy to attack ODS. It was Zeman who so eloquently referred to the "charred wasteland" that ODS left behind. From Gross and Sobotka we now hear that ODS is a band of tunnelers who are preparing to turn off the lights and finish what they left undone last time. ODS is a bigger threat to the CR than al-Qaeda, we also hear. Such direct attacks worked well for Zeman, because they were new in Czech politics, and because he's a skilled orator. The strategy could backfire on Gross and Sobotka, though. ČSSD has been in power for seven years. If ODS committed crimes prior to this, why hasn't anyone been punished for them? Perhaps Gross, the former interior minister, can provide the answer. [Czech Republic congress conference finance minister terrorism]