Final Word from Friday, February 8, 2008
By our reckoning, the dispute in Parliament over the method of voting for the president today (open or silent) decreases Václav Klaus's chances of winning from 70% to 65%. And the longer the dispute continues, the lower Klaus's chances will be. But don't get us wrong. This doesn't mean that Jan Švejnar's chances are improving. We still give him a measly 5% probability. (He is simply too risky a choice for the Savoy crowd.) The other 30% goes to an as-yet-unidentified candidate who could emerge if the political crisis drags on for too long. Someone "harmless" like Senate President Přemysl Sobotka or Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský of the Constitutional Court could perhaps be elected for an interim period, until direct elections are arranged. If ODS finally agrees to this scenario "against its will" after lots of screaming and fist-pounding, it will of course increase the speculation that Mirek Topolánek had been planning something like this from the very beginning.[Czech Republic Jiří Weigl Miroslav Šlouf Hotel ČSSD]
Glossary of difficult words
reckoning - a person's view, opinion or judgment;
to get someone wrong - to misunderstand someone;
measly - contemptibly small, meager;
Savoy crowd - because of a leaked security tape, a meeting at the Savoy Hotel is becoming a metaphor for the Klaus-Zeman "opposition agreement";
political crisis - if ODS continues to insist on a silent vote, it might not be possible to hold the presidential elections until some sort of compromise is reached;
fist-pounding - banging of the fist against a table, to indicate strong disagreement;
Mirek Topolánek - ODS chairman, who insists publicly that he is doing everything to reelect Klaus (but whose position might be threatened if Klaus in fact wins).