Kingmaker Klaus

Klaus is having the time of his life. He's gone from laying wreaths to naming premiers. Some people, notably House Speaker Lubomír Zaorálek, criticized him for "nonstandard" behavior by keeping US-DEU (and KSČM) out of the crisis talks. But Klaus is clearly within his constitutional prerogative, and even some of those who love to hate him are pointing this out. Political analyst Jiří Pehe, a professional Klaus critic who used to work for Václav Havel, said in MFD today that Zaorálek and others should "leave Klaus alone." Pehe's comment was more than just an indirect defense of his former boss's own "nonstandard" approach in naming Josef Tošovský as premier. It was also an admission that there's nothing to be gained this time by criticizing Klaus. He's read the constitution and the Czech public perfectly, and he's the big winner in the current government crisis. cabinet-formation president Communist Party