Final Word from Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Jiří Paroubek repeated in MFD today that if it hadn't been for the scandal launched by Director Jan Kubice of the organized-crime squad, he'd be the one forming the next government. He blames ODS, but analysts have noted that ODS couldn't have been certain it would benefit from Kubice's allegations. One possibility is that the scandal was planned not so much to assure ODS of victory, but rather to remove either Paroubek or Mirek Topolánek, or both, from politics. Only a few people in the CR would be capable of masterminding such a plan. Stanislav Gross, Miloš Zeman, Miroslav Šlouf and Václav Klaus come to mind. Unlike Paroubek, Klaus didn't make inflammatory proclamations when people around him were linked to the Jiří Berka bankruptcy-fraud gang. Perhaps it's only a coincidence that the Kubice affair has ultimately served Klaus's purposes more than anyone else's.[Czech Republic ÚOOZ MF Dnes]