Final Word from Friday, November 29, 2002
There's no way Václav Klaus will become prime minister again, two of our readers assured us. The readers, who purport to know what ODS's MPs are thinking, said that ODS did well in the Senate and municipal elections precisely because Klaus was on the way out. ODS will do what it can to get him elected president, one of the readers said, but it won't allow him to return to a top cabinet-level position. Even if Klaus worked out an agreement with Miloš Zeman that called for a division of power, the reader said, ODS's MPs would turn it down because it wouldn't be in the long-term interest of the party. These comments, if accurate, suggest that a major shift is taking place within ODS. Rarely have Czech politicians turned down short-term benefits (power, prestige, chauffeur-driven limousines) in the interest of achieving long-term goals.