Final Word from Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Think what you may of the Greens, but they're best positioned to negotiate a workable political solution. All the party chairs, other than Martin Bursík, are in some way compromised. Mirek Topolánek already failed in forming a cabinet; Jiří Paroubek has never won an election and has Miloš Zeman breathing down his neck; Jan Kasal of KDU-ČSL is merely the acting chair of a shriveling party; and Communist Chair Vojtěch Filip is, well, a Communist. Bursík is the man in the middle. Some of his ideas are dogmatic, but they're a starting point for negotiation. A Bursík-led rainbow coalition would cut Václav Klaus and Zeman out of the picture and eliminate the false-nonpartisan nature of a technocratic government. Bursík's cabinet would be a true political government, but it'd be founded on cross-party cooperation and compromise. Which is what everyone says is needed. [Czech Republic ODS ČSSD Green Party KSČM interim]