Final Word from Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Two of the five parties in Parliament opposed Miloš Zeman's "opposition agreement" with Václav Klaus on Aug. 19, 1998. All of the MPs of KDU-ČSL and the Freedom Union (US) voted No, whereas the Communists expressed their tolerance by abstaining. Yet when it came time to pass the 1999 state budget, KDU joined forces with KSČM to support Zeman. (ODS couldn't very well vote for it, could it?) Mathematically, Zeman had to have KDU, and 18 of its 20 MPs stepped up to approve the first planned deficit budget in Czech history. One of them was Miroslav Kalousek, who now criticizes Andrej Babiš for a deficit at a time of economic growth. By mid-1999, Kalousek was stating his true motivations. "If KDU doesn't get seats in the cabinet by the fall," he said, "it will stop supporting Zeman's legislative proposals." He said this on the same day that the cabinet sold ČSOB to KBC without him. How long before the Kalousek of 2018 tries likewise to get back into the game? [Czech Republic TOP 09 confidence vote approval]