Final Word from Tuesday, March 24, 2009
It's funny that the one time the opposition has the best chance of bringing down the Topolánek government, the reason for the no-confidence vote is the least clear. It's like the old joke about two lawyers and three legal opinions: Everyone seems to have his or her own reason (or two) for wanting to oust the current government. Take your pick from what is being said: The government has been interfering in the judicial process; it's mishandling the economic crisis; its healthcare reform has gone amok; the Lisbon treaty must be buried; Topolánek is a dirty rotten scoundrel; and so on and so forth. Less vocal are those attributing the attempt to the ambitions of Václav Klaus, Pavel Bém and Martin Pecina (why so many interviews with Pecina all of a sudden?). Others are whispering about ČSA, Prague Airport, ČD Cargo, Temelín or Lukoil. As usual, the most important reasons are probably the least obvious. And as the lead character in "Brotherhood" said, "Politics is always about money; and if it's not about money, it's about money."[Czech Republic Czech Railways antitrust office competition]
Glossary of difficult words
confidence game - a swindle in which the victim is persuaded to trust the swindler in some way; in the current context the title suggests that the official reasons for the confidence vote in Parliament might not be the real reason;
to oust - to drive out or expel someone from a position or place;
to run amok - to get out of control, to behave wildly;
dirty rotten scoundrel - meant here in a jocular or humorous sense;
Martin Pecina - chairman of the antitrust office; thought by some to be a potential PM in a caretaker government;
Brotherhood - a U.S. television series about organized crime and politics.