Final Word from Tuesday, October 6, 2009
ČSSD has toughened its stance on the huge environmental cleanup contract and now wants it canceled. Vice Chair Milan Urban of ČSSD said that he would prefer to break up the contract into individual jobs of similar specifications. ČSSD isn't about to stand by as TOP 09 uses the murky deal to build up a war chest that could be used to eat into ČSSD's own election result. Seeing the writing on the wall, Miroslav Kalousek of TOP 09 is also regretfully backing away from the gold mine of priceless sludge. Kalousek's mascot, Karel Schwarzenberg, has complained that the contract was tailor-made for a single company. That would be J&T, with its ties to Martin Roman of ČEZ. Insiders say that the cleanup contract was a Roman deal from the get-go. By putting its foot down, ČSSD is doing something Mirek Topolánek of ODS has never been able to do: It's telling Roman who the boss is.[Czech Republic ecological pollution indemnities]
Glossary of difficult words
cleaning up - can be understood to mean "setting things straight" or "making a substantial profit";
to stand by - to be present while something bad is happening but to fail to take any action to stop it;
murky - not fully explained or understood, esp. with concealed dishonesty or immorality;
war chest - a sum of money for conducting a campaign or business;
writing on the wall - clear signs that something unwelcome or unpleasant it going to occur;
gold mine - a source of wealth, valuable information or resources;
sludge - thick, wet mud or a similar mixture of solid and liquid components, esp. industrial waste of such consistency;
from the get-go - from the very beginning;
to put one's foot down - to adopt a firm policy when faced with opposition or disobedience.