Final Word from Monday, October 23, 2006
ODS thanked Jiří Paroubek for helping it to win the local and Senate elections. Although ČSSD did well in the Senate race, ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek said it's time for Paroubek to leave politics. The last time a ČSSD chairman was shunted aside, it was the result of a housing scandal that still hasn't been explained. This time, it's more the media image of being autocratic and confrontational that's hurting Paroubek, and not so much any concrete skeletons, as in Stanislav Gross's case. True, Jaroslav Kmenta of MFD came through with his usual police leak one day before the elections, but this didn't seem to have a major impact on the outcome. Alexandr Mitrofanov of Právo wrote today that there's no reason so far for ČSSD to "kill" Paroubek. If Paroubek also survives the second round of the Senate elections, it will be a blow to the media's ability to influence Czech politics. [Czech Republic MF Dnes municipal]