Final Word from Wednesday, January 17, 2024

STAN showed again this week that it likes to stab its coalition partners in the back. It made its grand entry into the government in 2021 by circling out the Pirates. Its next big move against a coalition partner came last March in the form of a competing proposal to Finance Min. Zbyněk Stanjura's 2024 budget. The idea of raising Kč 50bn in additional tax revenue by increasing the top VAT rate from 21% to 23% was directed primarily against ODS, but it also cut into the room for Miroslav Kalousek to launch a "party of fiscal responsibility." STAN's new video this week featuring Vít Rakušan as a coach who isn't happy with the team's performance targets ODS Chair Petr Fiala and again tries to make STAN look like the real reformist. If it were true, it would be reason for Kalousek to worry. Instead, the video will likely come to be seen as another low blow by STAN without any real substance. If STAN's own "players" start feeling this way, they might put in for a transfer to Kalousek's team. [ Czech Republic SRO seats ]