Puppet government

It's become almost trite to talk about the emerging cabinet of Jan Fischer as a puppet government. ODS and ČSSD were clearly running the show from the moment Fischer's name was mentioned. Late last week, though, the identify of the puppetmasters became cloudy. Was Václav Klaus suddenly pulling the strings. Or was it people close to MUS coal company? Or perhaps J&T? Appian? Or the Richard Háva-Miroslav Kalousek gang? It was a bit like Russia, where the economic crisis brought all the scared rats out of the woodwork, and the scrimmage for the remaining morsels laid bare an underbelly not seen so plainly during the boom. Fischer's job ought to be to swat down the various interests and to keep the damage they cause to a minimum. If he's not more resolute, though, he'll end up in the position of trying to satisfy all of them, and his transformation into a politician will be complete. [Czech Republic Omnipol Group Škoda Group]