Final Word from Wednesday, May 28, 2008
When political parties start unraveling, it's not always clear to outsiders who is at fault. With the Greens, though, commentators have been pointing out for months that the party's leadership is turning a greenish shade of ODS's blue. Turquoise is a lovely hue, to be sure, but the stones that gave the color its name are nearly as brittle as glass. The radar issue and Kosovo might not break the Greens, but what happens if - or when - Chair Martin Bursík flips to the blue side on nuclear power too? This might be enough to send the Turquoise Party to the sidelines after the next elections. Which is probably where it belongs for now. The party rode into Parliament on the back of a politically astute Bursík, but it was a Bursík who is turning out to be much different from what his voters had expected. The Greens' time won't come until they find a chairman who is both politically astute and as green as grass.[Czech Republic energy]
Glossary of difficult words
Greens-in-waiting - this can be understood to mean either that the Greens are "waiting to become green" or are "waiting for their political chance";
greenish - somewhat green, but not entirely green; the -ish suffix means "having the qualities or characteristics of";
hue - color or shade;
brittle - hard but liable to break or shatter easily;
to flip (on an issue) - to suddenly take an opposite stance (on an issue);
sidelines - not represented in Parliament;
astute - having an ability to assess situations accurately and to turn them to one's advantage.