Final Word from Thursday, May 18, 2006
The Greens burst on the scene with a promise to ban coal for residential heating. Grannies from the countryside got all fired up, so the Greens quietly dropped the idea. The proposal achieved the goal, though, of centering attention on the Greens. ODS is using a similar strategy. Implementation of a 15% flat tax after the elections is unlikely, because KDU-ČSL and the Greens oppose it, but ODS remains adamant. Vlastimil Tlustý, ODS's lead finance man, even told LN that if ODS drops the flat tax, it will have to be done without him. This is campaign rhetoric, but ODS's adherence to the flat tax does give hope that taxes will become a serious post-election topic. The business community, at least, would probably forgive ODS if it shifted away from the flat tax after the elections and concentrated on doing something about the punitively high social-security and health taxes.[Czech Republic heating energy Lidové noviny]