Final Word from Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Oto Novotný, an adviser to Bohuslav Sobotka, told Info.cz in June that nothing can be done before the elections to significantly damage Andrej Babiš and that not even bringing criminal charges would work. The same doesn't apply to ČSSD. Although it's bad form to kick someone when he is down, Babiš and his media will no doubt do it to Sobotka and the rest of what we call ČSSD a.s. in the weeks before the Oct. 20-21 elections. The first major opportunity comes on Sept. 1, when Sobotka is to appear in court as a witness in the OKD matter. The timing couldn't be worse for Sobotka - and better for Babiš. Through his media, voters will relive all the gruesome details of ČSSD's handout to Zdeněk Bakala. The second chance comes on election day. The retrial of David Rath starts the following Mon., Oct. 23, and although opinion polls are banned in the final days of the election campaign, there's no law against reminding voters how ČSSD's financing worked. [Czech Republic surveys]