Business unfriendly

MP Michal Kraus of ČSSD denied on Czech Radio last night that the proposed premier of a new three-party cabinet, diplomat Jan Kohout, would be a puppet in the hands of Stanislav Gross. What business leaders fear more is that Kohout will become a puppet in the hands of left-leaning politicians such as Kraus (a possible finance minister), Labor Minister Zdeněk Škromach (who could become the driving force in the cabinet) and MP Jan Kavan (a leader of ČSSD's left bloc). Gross and Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka have moved ČSSD to the center and have begun encroaching on ODS's territory. Without them and Deputy Premier Martin Jahn in the cabinet, though, ČSSD's ministers will likely swing sharply to the left. If ČSSD wants the support of business, it'll need to include at least one counterweight like Martin Jahn or Jan Mládek in the new government. [Czech Republic leftist]