Final Word from Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Miloš Zeman never said publicly that he would accept the resignation of PM Bohuslav Sobotka but not that of the entire cabinet. In fact, he said during the mock resignation ceremony on Thur. that Sobotka should remain as PM until he, the president, appointed a new PM and, on the advice of the new PM, a new cabinet. It was a front-page article in Právo on Thur. that led to an avalanche of comments about how Zeman intended to violate the Constitution by removing only Sobotka. The article by Naďa Adamičková and Marie Königová gave no source and ultimately was proven wrong by what actually happened at the Castle. There is now reason to believe that Právo's information came from the Sobotka camp, and not from the Castle. According to our own sources, Sobotka decided under pressure on Tues. to reverse his decision to resign and needed a good excuse to do so. The timely Přibil recordings and Zeman's plan to "violate the Constitution" provided two. [Czech Republic Marek MFD]