Final Word from Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Andrej Babiš has acquired hundreds of companies, some under suspicious circumstances, but never has he faced the kind of scrutiny the foreign media have subjected him to now. He might have won the Czech election battle, but he lost the image battle abroad. His flirtation with extremists and Communists could threaten Czech democracy, the world was told. Radek Vondráček of ANO can assure Czech Radio that he wouldn't mind if SPD and KSČM left the chamber to allow a minority government to win a vote of confidence, but this is a bluff. Babiš needs a majority coalition with "legitimate" parties. And they need him too. If he formed a minority cabinet, he could take over all the ministries, agencies and state companies, instead of just 60-70% of them. Regardless of what politicians and their propagandists say, it's in the interest of both Babiš and his future coalition partners from the "traditional" parties to make their inevitable deal before the first confidence vote. [Czech Republic extremism Party state-owned]