Final Word from Monday, January 28, 2019
Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský of the Constitutional Court first stated publicly in March 2015 that he would be happy if Pres. Miloš Zeman chose then-Chief Justice Josef Baxa of the Supreme Administrative Court to replace him when he retired. By the time Baxa met with Zeman in May of last year to discuss his own successor, Rychetský's reshuffle plan had been known for three years. Baxa told the judiciary subcommittee of Parliament last week that when he met with Zeman, he had the feeling that Zeman was offering him a barter: Chief justice of the Constitutional Court in exchange for rulings that Zeman liked. Yet Baxa never informed Rychetský of this. Or at least that is what Rychetský told Czech TV on Fri. Not even over dinner did Baxa relay this to him, Rychetský said. Rychetský has otherwise been highly critical of the Castle, but when it came down to brass tacks, he stood apart from the #JusticniMeToo movement and raised doubts about Baxa's version of events. [ Czech Republic castling castle #MeToo Television Interview ČT24 ]
Glossary of difficult words
to throw someone overboard - to abandon someone;
reshuffle - an act of reorganizing or rearranging something;
to relay something to someone - to receive and pass on information to someone;
to come/get down to brass tacks - to start talking about the most important or basic facts of a situation; to focus on the essentials.