Final Word from Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Czech PM Petr Fiala and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have similar personalties, similar politics, similar governing styles and similar probable political futures, but Scholz has never had a meltdown of the kind Fiala is now going through. Fiala has been speaking for a month about a 30% result for Spolu in next year's parliamentary elections but said in Právo today that he's playing around when he says this. He doesn't mean it entirely seriously, he said. What else has Fiala not been entirely serious about recently? Czechs have no way of knowing. German voters will have an opportunity on Feb. 23 to tell Scholz what they think of him, and there's no reason to doubt that he can't run the country until then. The same can no longer be said with certainty about Fiala. He seems unable to deal with the new political and geopolitical reality. Pres. Petr Pavel should consider calling a meeting with all parliamentary parties after his return from Australia to discuss how to proceed in this unprecedented situation. [ Czech Republic reshuffle prime minister replace ]