Final Word from Tuesday, July 25, 2023

If talk of a grand coalition of ANO and ODS after the next parliamentary elections should be seen as an attack on PM Petr Fiala and those in his camp, as we wrote yesterday, it counts double for the new initiative of eight senators opposing the Istanbul Convention against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Sen. Jiří Oberfalzer of ODS told Petr Kolář of MFD that he signed a letter of eight senators - six of whom are in the ruling coalition - so that it is clear that attempts to pass the Convention are coming from the ODS leadership and don't represent the views of all of the party. Opposition to Fiala's form of conservative-liberal values is growing, but only on an incremental basis. Those who think that ODS is betraying its core policies don't have the strength or motivation to try to replace Fiala now. If the moment eventually arrives, it will likely be Hemingwayesque: "How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked [in The Sun Also Rises]. "Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually and then suddenly." [ Czech Repubic bankruptcy sack Senate Spolu/Together KDU-ČSL STAN Michael Canov Zdeněk Hraba Jiří Vosecký Jiří Čunek Tomáš Jirsa and Jiří Oberfalzer ]