Final Word from Wednesday, May 21, 2014
ČSSD was in a panic five days before the parliamentary elections in Oct., according to Právo, because the party's support was dropping rapidly in the polls. One of the key questions was whether ANO would eclipse the Communists to become the second-strongest party in Parliament. A poll of polls by Jan Herzmann a week before the elections showed that ANO could win as much as 19.6% of the vote, to 27.4% for ČSSD and 17.1% for the Communists. We now know that ČSSD won 20.45%, ANO 18.65% and the Communists 14.91%. ANO produced an election shock. One of the key questions in the EU elections is whether TOP 09 will shock ČSSD to become the second-strongest Czech party in Strasbourg. A poll released last week by Herzmann and Data Collect gives ANO 20.1%, TOP 14.2% and ČSSD just 12.5%. It's generally at this point that a doctor starts thinking about terminating the resuscitation effort. [Czech Republic heart attack KSČM Brussels European Union]
Glossary of difficult words
cardiac arrest - a sudden, sometimes temporary, cessation of function of the heart;
to eclipse - to surpass, outshine, overshadow or outdo;
poll of polls - a survey that takes into account a number of opinion polls to arrive at a combined possible outcome.