Final Word from Monday, February 22, 2010
MF Dnes had a unique opportunity to acquire proof of cabinet-level corruption in the contract for Pandur armored vehicles, but it instead did a half-baked job of "investigative" reporting that achieves little except sell some newspapers. MFD confused details of the two Pandur deals and pulled back before its sources provided any truly damning information. ČSSD Chair Jiří Paroubek was probably right when he told Czech Radio that TOP 09 was behind the scandal. The Pandur deal was one of the few major defense contracts that Miroslav Kalousek and Richard Háva weren't involved in, and the revelations in MFD fit with Karel Schwarzenberg's bold claim in Týden that "part of the money in big deals always goes to the large political parties." MFD seems to be following an unpublished style guide: Corruption scandals involving ODS and ČSSD are allowed, as long as nothing comes of them.[Czech Republic Omnipol Pandora's box]
Glossary of difficult words
Pandur's box - a word play on the expression "Pandora's box"; we borrowed it from Mirek Topolánek;
half-baked - not thorough, not thoroughly planned, not serious, incomplete; half-assed (mildly vulgar);
to fit with - to be in harmony with;
style guide - a publication which details the specific writing style used by a publishing house or other organization to ensure consistency;
to come of - to result from.