Final Word from Thursday, December 21, 2017

When Martin Schulz's SPD announced immediately after the German elections that entering the opposition was a matter of principle, it was believable, at least for several weeks. When Milan Chovanec's ČSSD said after the Czech elections that entering the opposition was a matter of principle, it was a different matter altogether. If "opposition = principle" for SPD, "opposition = prison" for ČSSD. Not for everyone in ČSSD, of course, but at least theoretically for those who commandeered the oldest Czech political party and turned it into the commercial entity we call ČSSD a.s. When Chovanec starts talking now about perhaps supporting or tolerating an ANO government, he's right to be worried about what early parliamentary elections would do to his "sinking ship" (to use his term). But he is even more justified in worrying about what Babiš can do to him now, especially if Babiš proves to be anywhere near as vindictive as Chovanec was when he was in control of the police. [Czech Republic Germany]