Final Word from Thursday, June 15, 2006
Since his election-night tantrum, Jiří Paroubek has lost his ability to speak with authority, but that doesn't mean his words don't still sometimes ring true. He's largely right when he says Václav Klaus hasn't been non-partisan for the past two weeks. It started, he said, with an interview two days before the elections. It continued, we might add, on election night, when Klaus masterfully used the outrage at Paroubek's "putsch" speech to say things about the premier that wouldn't normally pass inspection. As Jiří Pehe noted, Klaus is always a step ahead of the pack, and for this reason it's not entirely accurate to say he's acting like ODS's honorary chair. Klaus is looking out for No. 1. Regardless of whether he intends to serve another full term, he wants to get reelected. How he achieves this might not be in the CR's best interest, or even in ODS's, but achieve it, by damn, he will. [Czech Republic premier ČSSD presidential elections]