Klaus's Guantanamo

Václav Klaus elegantly extracted himself from the controversial IPB settlement this week by refusing to grant a pardon to Nomura managers, but he might not be so lucky a second time. He's trying to maneuver ex-Justice Minister Jaroslav Bureš into the post of chief justice of the Supreme Court and is facing dogged resistance from the current chief justice, Iva Brožová. She claims that Bureš, at the minimum, has the appearance of being politically compromised by his stay in the executive, and she's insisting on a separation of powers. Her critics, not perhaps without reason, cast doubt on her managerial skills and even her intelligence. Klaus, though, has already lost one constitutional battle with her and seems to be on his way to losing another. If he doesn't find a graceful exit, non-profit organizations might latch onto the issue, and it could become his own personal Guantanamo. [Czech Republic Constitutional Court NGOs nongovernmental organizations]