Final Word from Monday, May 19, 2025
Pres. Petr Pavel said after his meetings on Thur. with the heads of the parliamentary parties that his goal in the discussions was to encourage the politicians to avoid using the issue of security to divide society. It was the second time that Pavel threw PM Petr Fiala under the bus in such a brutal way, given that Spolu's main campaign topic is to divide society by depicting ANO as a security threat. What's different now is that STAN joined Spolu on Sat. in drawing a red line between itself and ANO. STAN's leaders said the party doesn't want to go the way of Slovakia and Hungary after the elections and will not enter a government with ANO. Taken at face value, this eliminates the possibility that Pavel could appoint STAN Chair Vít Rakušan as the PM of a STAN-ANO government as a way to keep Andrej Babiš out of the hot seat. One of the main attractions of STAN to many liberal voters has been its pragmatism. Without it, the party's highly progressive agenda makes it little more than the Pirates in suits. [ Czech Republic Lukáš Vlček ]
Glossary of difficult words
to throw someone under the bus - to betray or sacrifice a person, particularly for the sake of one’s own advancement or as a means of safeguarding one’s own interests;
to depict - to portray in words; to describe;
to take something at face value - to accept something as it appears to be rather than studying it more closely;
hot seat - the position of carrying full responsibility for something important.