Final Word from Monday, October 16, 2006
Voters don't want a grand coalition, but Jiří Paroubek proposed one yesterday anyway, less than a week before the elections. Why didn't he at least wait until after the elections? The answer is fear. He wasn't merely afraid that Václav Klaus would pass him by during the second attempt to form a cabinet (Klaus rejected the idea of a slim 101-seat majority). Paroubek must also sense that the Zdeněk Doležel fraud case is getting dangerously close. If Doležel is as crazy as Paroubek says, he's likely to spill the beans about all kinds of things. Pavel Bém has already called for Paroubek to resign over the affair. Whether it was an act of fear or not, Paroubek's move yesterday was clever. He took away one reason for Klaus not to give him a chance to form a government, and he made Mirek Topolánek look incapable of forming a government in the second round. It's Topolánek's turn to have some fear.[Czech Republic ODS ČSSD President ODS-ČSSD Prague Mayor Pavel Bém]