Final Word from Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Jiří Drahoš started last night's second-round presidential debate on TV Prima by fighting first-round battles. Zeman didn't participate in the first-round debates, he declared for the umpteen time. Drahoš also remained stuck in the past when host Karel Voříšek asked him how he would go about appointing a PM for the second attempt at forming a government. Drahoš didn't answer the question. He instead said that he would have behaved differently from the very beginning. He wouldn't give any blank checks and would give an opportunity to the election winner. Zeman jumped on this to note that the election winner is already in the seat and to suggest that Drahoš wants to appoint ODS Chair Petr Fiala as PM, although ODS was a distant second behind ANO. Drahoš never offered a rebuttal. Voters are left to wonder whether Drahoš is clueless about how to handle the impasse or is cleverly keeping quiet because he knows voters wouldn't like his solution. [Czech Republic television elections]