Tunnelers on Probation

Some people joke that Miroslav Kalousek's TOP 09 stands for "Tunnelers, Opportunists, Profiteers." Politicians use only slightly less explicit language in criticizing their newest credible threat. Jiří Paroubek calls Kalousek one of the biggest rogues in post- 1989 Czech politics. Acting Green Chair Ondřej Liška said that Kalousek "tunneled" his old party, KDU-ČSL. Speaking in LN on Sat., presumptive TOP 09 Chair Karel Schwarzenberg initially dismissed any talk of shenanigans on Kalousek's part as unsubstantiated rumor. When pressed, though, he compared Kalousek to a promiscuous party girl who settles down once she gets married. Kalousek understands, he said, that the corruption of the past can't continue or it will lead to the demise of the Czech state. Voters, it seems, must decide whether "Tunnelers on Probation" can mend their ways, or whether they're destined to become repeat offenders. [Czech Republic ČSSD Lidové noviny]