Final Word from Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Almost everyone can agree that ANO should get around 30% of the vote in the Oct. parliamentary elections, that ČSSD will win between 10% and 20%, that the Communists should be in there somewhere too, and maybe even ODS. KDU-ČSL is a sure bet to cross the 5% threshold, TOP 09 not quite so much, and then there are the Pirates, the Greens and SPD. The biggest wild card is suddenly STAN. One glance at its poll numbers (1-2%), and its decision yesterday to go it alone brings to mind Eminem's song about a drunken drive off a bridge in a fit of unrequited love. But STAN, freshly divorced from KDU, is proclaiming confidently instead that its fans will show their love when it counts. Who is to say that Petr Gazdík and his ragtag group of mayors are wrong? There are so many unknowns in these elections, even within the parameters mentioned above, that it's difficult to dismiss STAN's expectations entirely, even if from Prague they look terribly idealistic. [Czech Republic Stan]