Final Word from Friday, June 2, 2006
ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek told F1 radio that an ODS- ČSSD grand coalition isn't mathematically possible. If ČSSD and the Communists win 101 or more of the 200 seats, he said, there will be a minority ČSSD cabinet backed by the Communists. And if ODS, KDU-ČSL and the Greens win 101 or more seats, he said, they'll form a coalition. He ruled out a grand coalition, but a few minutes later he suggested it might be possible, after all, if the current ČSSD leadership is changed. The Communists like to point out that only a couple of heads would need to roll to make a grand coalition a reality. Topolánek, trying to save his own head, says these elections are a milestone. Either the CR goes backward with a minority ČSSD cabinet, he argues, or forward with ODS. What many skeptics suspect, though, is that a third way is the most likely: A grand coalition that stands still, because it's most interested in sharing the spoils of political war. [Czech Republic June elections Green Party Parliament]