VV as coalition killer

Karel Schwarzenberg told Czech TV that he likes public houses more than Public Affairs (VV), because with a brothel you at least know what its purpose is and what you're paying for. The political and media skepticism surrounding VV is reaching the point that it might not be possible for ODS and TOP 09 to invite the tainted lady into a coalition. VV's own manager, Vít Bárta, said his party might merely back a limited-term minority government of ODS and TOP 09. Either way, the opaque VV would be able to bring down the coalition at any time, either intentionally or by embroiling it in scandal. One must wonder, as we first did in the Final Word in Aug. of last year, whether the interests behind VV didn't plan from the very beginning to allow their creation to be discredited as a way to bring about a grand coalition. (The same might even apply to TOP 09.) Today, the chance of some form of ODS-TOP-VV center-right government is probably still 60%, but the odds of a grand coalition increase every time VV's Bárta appears on TV. [Czech Republic ČSSD Věci veřejné]