Final Word from Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Reports that Deputy Justice Min. Jeroným Tejc is in the running to become interior minister in an ANO+ČSSD government should come as no surprise to readers who paid attention to our four pieces last week about the ghost of Milan Chovanec (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV). Andrej Babiš will only deign to have ČSSD in his government if the specter of Chovanec and those he represents is expunged. Tejc has the credentials for achieving this (as does current Interior Min. Lubomír Metnar). Tejc made his choice in the summer of 2013, and we referred to it then as his "metamorphosis." He turned his back on Bohuslav Sobotka and those pulling Sobotka's strings long before it became safe to do so. When Tejc finally resigned from ČSSD in Nov. 2017, he said he saw little hope for change if people like Chovanec kept doing deals and tried to maintain their influence. Yet Tejc remains a Social Democrat in spirit, which could make him acceptable to both Babiš and the "new" ČSSD. [Czech Republic minister KSČM Communist Party coalition]
Glossary of difficult words
to expunge - to obliterate or remove completely (something unwanted or unpleasant);
to deign - to do something that one considers to be beneath one's dignity;
specter - ghost;
credentials - qualifications, achievements, qualities, or aspects of a person's background, esp. when used to indicate his or her suitability for something.