Ex-PM Mirek Topolánek got angry near the end of the OVM debate on Czech TV in March when MEP Marcel Kolaja of the Pirates called him a lobbyist for the fossil-fuel industry. Topolánek said that he considers this an insult, but he eventually acknowledged that he works for Eustream natural-gas transmission company of Slovakia, which is controlled 49% by Daniel Křetínský's EP Infrastructure. Topolánek's friend Miroslav Kalousek is an ex-finance minister with significant influence in politics who refuses to say publicly whether he too works for a Czech oligarch. He told Czech Radio yesterday (at 14:35) that if he were the PM or the party chief of Environment Min. Petr Hladík of KDU-ČSL, he would consider replacing him. Perhaps Kalousek merely considers Hladík to be incompetent, but there's also the possibility that he's bothered more by KDU's support for higher taxes on gaming/gambling. Some of the most effective lobbyists are those who go at things in a roundabout way. [ Czech Republic lobby lottery lotteries betting Television EPH ]
Glossary of difficult words
roundabout - not saying what is meant clearly and directly.