Power brokers

Let's assume for a moment that Stanislav Gross was right yesterday when he told Václav Moravec of Czech TV that powerful economic groups are likely behind his apartment scandal. Let's also assume that Gross's second piece of speculation was right, namely that ODS is involved too. Taken together, it seems that Gross thinks unnamed financiers and ODS are seeking to disrupt economic decisions of the coalition cabinet, such as the Český Telecom privatization (which was mentioned by Moravec). If Gross is on the right track, we should perhaps expect this scandal to be a prelude to a full-fledged campaign to get the Telecom privatization postponed. What Gross didn't offer was any assurance that these economic and political figures - who are so powerful, it seems, that they can nearly bring down the government - won't succeed in derailing the privatization. [Czech Republic prime minister premier flat Television lobbyists lobbying]