Final Word from Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Václav Klaus said in April that if Czech voters pass the EU constitution, he won't be the one to stand in their way by refusing to ratify it. He was speaking only of a referendum. What if the cabinet tried to push the EU treaty through Parliament? ODS wants the matter to be dropped and could put together enough votes to block either a referendum or a vote in Parliament, as long as a qualified majority was required. ODS could fall short, though, if the cabinet tried to sneak by with a simple majority. Klaus and ODS are likely to insist that the treaty transfers powers to the EU and requires a three-fifths' majority under the CR's constitution. Klaus could be presented as the last bastion between the Czech constitution and those intent on trampling it. By refusing to sign the EU treaty, he could single-handedly kill it in the CR and would have a defensible argument for doing so. [Czech Republic European Union president Paroubek]