Právo: Dienstbier may succeed in Czech presidential election

Prague, May 22 (CTK) - The presidential candidacy of Czech Social Democrat (CSSD) senator Jiri Dienstbier, 42, is not as hopeless as it seems at first sight since he has a chance of winning support of both CSSD and Communist Party (KSCM) voters, Alexandr Mitrofanov writes in the daily Pravo Tuesday.

Unlike other potential candidates, Dienstbier makes a confident impression with firm and principled stances that do not allow for an ambiguous interpretation, Mitrofanov says.

In the situation where other candidates are trying to distance themselves from political parties as much as possible since "a party line is not fashionable," Dienstbier represents a traditional social democratic view of the world and he actively pursues the CSSD's ideas, Mitrofanov writes.

Compared to the two main presidential candidates of the right wing , Jan Fischer, former head of the caretaker government in 2009-10 and a statistician by profession, and economist Jan Svejnar (both unaffiliated), Dienstbier's position is disadvantageous at first sight, Mitrofanov writes.

Both Fischer, 61, who is the favourite of the presidential election according to public opinion polls, and Svejnar, 59, follow up the tradition of the "good-old-daddy" presidency dating back to the first Czechoslovak president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (in office 1918-35).

They do not want to offend anyone and they can address right-wing and conformist-like voters who feel respect for the influential Western financial and academic structures with which both candidates are connected, Mitrofanov writes.

Svejnar is living in the United States where he is lecturing at university, while Fischer occupies the post of vice-president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Dienstbier's profile is based on the exact opposite. His role models for the presidential post might be J. F. Kennedy and Barack Obama in terms of age and activities, Mitrofanov notes.

Dienstbier's potential voters are most probably left-wingers who tend to support the CSSD in parliamentary elections, Mitrofanov adds.

However, this would not suffice to compete with the right-wing presidential candidates. This is why Dienstbier is trying hard to extend his field of support into both directions, Mitrofanov notes.

He recalls that a group of left-wing and "social-liberal" intellectuals publicly supported Dienstbier as the CSSD's presidential candidate before the party's bodies officially nominated him. Moreover, he may win sympathies of the Green voters.

On the other hand, Dienstbier is the only CSSD politician who openly says he would not reject the KSCM as a potential government partner of the CSSD beforehand.

Many people do not understand this opinion being expressed by a man whose father, the first post-communist foreign minister and former dissident Jiri Dienstbier (1937-2011), opposed the communist regime and was imprisoned over his political conviction, Mitrofanov adds.

Dienstbier has sent a message saying he would not prevent a government with a KSCM as the head of state, but on condition that such a government would not undermine democracy, Mitrofanov writes.

Over his accommodating stance on cooperation with the Communists, Dienstbier may win votes of KSCM supporters in the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic to be held in early 2013. Consequently, his chances of succeeding in the election may not be as poor as they seem, Mitrofanov indicates in conclusion.