Final Word from Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Jiří Paroubek suggested in Deník that the CR's leading interest groups wouldn't have allowed Andrej Babiš to rise so high if they hadn't reached an understanding with him. Paroubek didn't name names, but he presumably meant the Five Families run by Petr Kellner, Patrik Tkáč, Karel Komárek, Marek Dospiva and Zdeněk Bakala. If there is indeed an accord, it seems that Bakala wasn't party to it. Bakala's Respekt magazine managed yesterday to attack both Babiš (by saying that stopping the Babišization of the CR is now on the agenda) and Kellner (by raising the issue of whether PPF and BBH installed Petr Dvořák at Czech TV). Before the elections, Bakala's OKD lamented that it had become a key election topic. A media war that sends the families to the mattresses risks making OKD a major post-election topic too, especially with Daniel Křetínský of EPH (PPF/J&T) on his way to buying Ringier and its Blesk tabloid. [Czech Republic PPF Penta J&T KKCG BXR NWR Television Milan Uhde]
Glossary of difficult words
Five Familes - (our term) PPF, J&T, KKCG, Penta, BXR;
to be (a) party to something - to be involved;
to lament - to express regret or disappointment over something considered unsatisfactory, unreasonable or unfair;
to go to the mattresses - (from The Godfather) to prepare for war.