Spidla's anti-Zeman cabinet
ČSSD Chair Vladimír Špidla mentioned several names
on Fri. of potential ministers for his cabinet. The names
themselves came as little surprise, because they were
mainly of those who have long been considered "his"
men and women (Stanislav Gross, Petra Buzková,
Miloš Kužvart, etc.) as opposed to Miloš Zeman's (Jan
Kavan, Petr Lachnit, Miroslav Šlouf, etc.). More of a
surprise was the timing. It was nearly perfect. Špidla
made the headlines with his young, mostly under-40,
anti-Zeman team just one day before he faced Václav
Klaus on TV Nova's "7" debate show. Klaus ended up
sounding like a Zeman-era politician. Špidla, in
contrast, presented himself as someone who can build
on what was good (growth, stability, privatization, etc.)
under Zeman and eliminate the bad (cronyism,
intransparency, vulgarism, etc.). With only days to go,
the momentum is now in Špidla's favor.
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