Final Word from Tuesday, August 11, 2026
It's not a conspiracy if it's for the good of democracy.... An attempted constitutional coup by Pres. Petr Pavel and Chief Justice Josef Baxa of the Constitutional Court for granting the president more powers, to use Foreign Min. Petr Macinka's term, could be qualified as a criminal conspiracy to commit sabotage, punishable by 8-12 years in prison, but if Baxa convinced people that the constitutional order was at risk, he would instead be enshrined in history as a savior. That's also the way it looked in Oct. 2021, when Senate Pres. Miloš Vystrčil and ODS Chair Petr Fiala sought to strip an ailing Miloš Zeman of his presidential powers. Zeman wanted Andrej Babiš as the PM, but invoking Art. 66 of the Constitution would have made it possible to put Fiala in instead. That became unnecessary when Zeman agreed to appoint Fiala. It was ultimately Babiš who resolved that political crisis, because he didn't want to fight to remain PM. It will be different if Petr Kolář tries to invoke Art. 62, because Babiš will indeed fight next time. [ remove minister PM prime ]
Glossary of difficult words
to enshrine - to place a sacred relic or person inside a physical shrine or protective structure; to preserve a person's legacy, actions or memory so deeply that they become an unshakeable part of historical record;
to strip someone of - to deprive someone of (rank, power or property).