Final Word from Monday, February 14, 2022
The coalition-controlled Senate voted down the amendment to the pandemic law on Thur., but one minister or coalition MP after another is now vowing to override the veto by force. Even if the amendment is not unconstitutional, as some of the coalition's senators claimed, it fails the smell test because of the way it had to be revised on the floor of Parliament, was pushed through in a state of legislative emergency and would give the government significant new powers at a time of an easing of the pandemic and the restrictions. Some members of the coalition want the CR to move away from Hungary and Poland within Visegrad, but the heavy-handed methods being used by the government to get the pandemic law passed put PM Petr Fiala in good company with Viktor Orbán and Jaroslaw Kaczyński. Or even Andrej Babiš. How Fiala handles the issue this week will provide a clue about whether he is considering running for president and what his strategy might be if he did. [ Czech Republic Orban Kaczynski Four Group illiberal rule of law ]
Glossary of difficult words
to override - to use one's authority to reject or cancel (a veto, decision, view, etc.);
to fail the smell test - to be morally questionable, unacceptable or untrustworthy;
heavy-handed - clumsy, insensitive or overly forceful.