Final Word from Friday, September 16, 2005
The announced departure of Miroslav Grebeníček as chairman of the Communist Party has a double meaning for ODS. First, it introduces the possibility of greater public acceptance of post-election collaboration between ČSSD and the Communists. And second, it shows yet again that changing a party chairman before the parliamentary elections isn't necessarily a bad thing. ODS's own chairman, Mirek Topolánek, has been surprisingly ineffective at taking advantage of ČSSD's recent Unipetrol scandal. It's perhaps partly in deference to Vlastimil Tlustý, who was involved in the Unipetrol deal as chairman of the ČKA debt-consolidation agency. If ČSSD emerges from the Unipetrol scandal essentially unscathed and with even greater election potential than before, ODS will have some hard decisions to make about its two most visible politicians.[Czech Republic KSČM Orlengate PKN Orlen Česká konsolidační agentura]