Final Word from Tuesday, October 19, 2021

According to Speaker of the House Radek Vondráček of ANO, Pres. Miloš Zeman knew what he was doing on Thur. of last week when he signed a document for convening the new Parliament on Nov. 8. Yet according to a letter from the ÚVN military hospital of Prague received by the Senate yesterday, Zeman was unable as of Wed. afternoon to perform any duties of the president. Vondráček now says that if the hospital's evaluation had been known to him, it might have affected his decision to witness the signing of the document. Zeman's signature on the document is nevertheless valid and will presumably remain so, even if the signing of it was a maneuver by Zeman's chief of staff, Vratislav Mynář, to give the public a false impression of the state of the president's health. Vondráček's last act as speaker of the House will be to run the convening session of Parliament, which he must call in the name of a president who doctors say was incapable of calling the session. [ Czech Republic Castle ]