Final Word from Tuesday, December 12, 2023
PM Petr Fiala told CNN Prima News last week that he can't imagine ex-Finance Min. Miroslav Kalousek on Spolu's candidate list for next year's EU elections given what Kalousek has said about the coalition government. Fiala added that he's confident that TOP 09 will make the proper decision in this respect. Inherent in his statement is the assumption that it's in the coalition's best interest for TOP 09 to keep Kalousek off the ticket when its leadership meets on Thur. If Kalousek were allowed to run, it could seriously disrupt relations within the Spolu coalition, but it might actually save the Spolu coalition over the longer term. The latest Kantar CZ poll for Czech TV gives Spolu an 18.5% rating for the next parliamentary elections. The threshold for a three-party coalition is 11%. If Kalousek is denied a spot on the Spolu ticket and then decides to form a new political party, he might be able to steal so many voters from TOP 09, ODS and KDU-ČSL that Spolu falls below the 11% threshold in the elections. Shipping Kalousek off to Brussels and Strasbourg might be a small price to pay for keeping the Spolu parties in Parliament. [ Czech Republic quorum Television survey Together ]
Glossary of difficult words
threshold - a level, rate or amount at which something comes into effect;
inherent - existing in something as a permanent, essential or characteristic attribute;
ticket - a list of candidates put forward by a party in an election.