Zemanites unite

Speculation will continue for months as to whether Miloš Zeman is serious about no longer wanting to be president. The simple explanation for his surprise announcement on Sun. is that he was frightened by the arrest on bribery charges of people close to his wing of ČSSD. Stanislav Gross openly threatened in LN ten days ago to pull something out on Zeman. Another possibility is that Zeman's move is a sophisticated way of weakening Jiří Paroubek. We've heard speculation, for example, that Zeman knows he can't become president and wants to return as prime minister. His performance on Sun. on Czech TV was his most PM-like in years. Whatever Zeman's endgame, and only he knows, he remains one of the CR's most influential politicians. It was his influence that caused ČSSD to side with the Communists yesterday in rejecting a promised cap on social security. [Czech Republic Communist Party KSČM Television premier caps]