Final Word from Monday, July 4, 2022

Pres. Miloš Zeman said on TV Prima yesterday that he considers it a tactical mistake for Andrej Babiš to wait until Nov. 4 to announce whether he will run for president. Babiš's campaign would be more credible if he decided earlier, Zeman said. He repeated that he personally will choose in Jan. between Babiš and labor leader Josef Středula. When Babiš said a week ago that he would postpone his announcement about a presidential run, it was widely thought to be related to the Stork's Nest trial, which begins on Sept. 12. But what if he merely used Stork's Nest as a smokescreen? The anti-Babiš media are increasingly linking him to the leaks in the STAN scandal. Perhaps Babiš does indeed have insider information about the police investigation and is waiting until Nov. to see if the Fiala government is going to fall. If Babiš's chances of becoming PM again looked good by the Nov. filing deadline, he'd still have time to appoint Alena Schillerová or someone else from ANO to run for president. [ Czech Republic CNN News candidacy office ]