All turns around Mr. K
2010-09-06
For more than a decade, nearly the only thing the pro-Klaus and
anti-Klaus camps could agree on was that all of Czech politics
revolved around Václav Klaus. You'll still hear the occasional
"nothing will change until Klaus is gone," but increasingly this
same line is being used for Miroslav Kalousek. The omnipresent
finance minister has a hand - or his fingers - in everything. Will
a no-savings budget be adopted that favors huge investment
projects to the detriment of public-sector jobs and social
benefits? Kalousek decides. Will the tender process be cleaned
up? Kalousek (probably) decides. Will Senior State Prosecutor
Renata Vesecká be sacked? Again, Kalousek (probably) decides.
In many ways, Kalousek is the leading current promoter of
Klausian politics. It's ironic, then, that his two biggest political
enablers, Karel Schwarzenberg and Zdeněk Tůma, have
traditionally been in the anti-Klaus camp.
[Czech Republic TOP 09 ODS chief attorney]
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