Final Word from Tuesday, October 23, 2012

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MP Petr Tluchoř of ODS hit the nail on the head when he said yesterday that under the leadership of Peter Nečas, the party has lost half its voter support, all the elections and is at odds with its platform. But has he looked in the mirror lately? Voters might not be overly impressed by Nečas, but the six rebels (plus Boris Šťastný) under Tluchoř's leadership are no ODS hall of fame either. Every time disappointed ODS voters see Marek Šnajdr or Šťastný on the tube, they think of the shenanigans at VZP medical insurer. When they see Ivan Fuksa, they think of the ecotender and Lesy ČR. It's black holes like these that are keeping ODS from sticking to its platform and allowing Miroslav Kalousek to raise taxes. When Tluchoř says that ODS's top leadership must take responsibility for the state of the party, he's right. But the same should apply to the rebels. If Nečas offers to resign, what are they willing to give up in return? Their board seats? Their seats in Parliament? The villas they built thanks to the way ODS diverged from its party platform?[Czech Republic congress environmental cleanup]