Final Word from Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Václav Klaus signed 12 laws yesterday with conveyor-belt consistency, eight days before he was required to act. One of them was the controversial bill for giving free carbon credits to ČEZ. As much as many people believe it is true, no one could expect Klaus to announce that he signed the bill because ČEZ has him in its back pocket. Instead, he said nothing. His top political aide, Ladislav Jakl, said in this respect on Fri. that he thinks ODS and ČSSD have already agreed to form a grand coalition after the Oct. elections. He criticized the two main parties for passing a large number of laws this spring with conveyor-belt consistency and without blocking each other's nonsense. Now Klaus has signed the nonsense. Czech voters can take from this that their president is willing to go to the Constitutional Court to save them from the EU's power-hungry politicians but won't lift his pen to save them from their own.[Czech Republic European Union Kč 68bn CO2 allowances]
Glossary of difficult words
conveyor belt - a continuous moving band used for moving objects from one place to another;
deadline - according to Ladislav Jakl, Klaus had 15 days from last Tues. to act on the laws, which apparently means Aug. 19;
in someone's (back) pocket - very close to and closely involved with someone; dependent on someone financially and therefore under the person's influence;
Constitutional Court - Klaus took part in a Constitutional challenge by senators to the Lisbon treaty;
lift his pen - in the sense "to lift a finger" - to make the slightest effort to do something or to help someone.