Týden: Anti-corruption not the winner

Prague, Oct 15 (CTK) - Czechs probably voted against the government, against the system, against Godfathers, against corruption in the weekend regional and Senate elections, but the winner is by no means the "anti-corruption" stand, Martin Fendrych writes in weekly Tyden out yesterday.

The Social Democrats (CSSD), now an opposition party, that won the elections, is by no means an anti-corruption party. It is about the same like the Civic Democrats (ODS), the current government's senior party that lost the elections, in this respect.

The CSSD is only lucky that it is not a ruling party at the moment, Fendrych writes.

He says the biggest paradox of the regional election may be the win of the CSSD in Central Bohemia, a region that was led until May by David Rath, then a CSSD member, who was caught red-handed with seven million crowns, a probable bribe, in May. He has been in custody since then.

The Communists (KSCM) who scored a huge success in the elections are not an anti-corruption party either. If they assumed power, they would behave like the CSSD and ODS, Fendrych writes.

He writes that Prime Minister and ODS chairman Petr Necas has suffered a terrible defeat and if the party has a self-preservation instinct, it cannot re-elect him at its November election congress.

Fendrych writes that it would be logical if Jiri Pospisil who led the ODS in the west Bohemian Plzen Region, in which the party scored the sole victory out of 13 regions, replaced Necas.

Fendrych writes that the ODS did not win in any region four years ago, this time it won in the Plzen Region led by a minister whom Necas dismissed earlier this year, explaining his decision with entirely dubious arguments.

However, the real reason is quite well known. Pospisil, after a long hesitation, supported a change to the system of state attorney's offices. Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman and new Prague High State Attorney Lenka Bradacova who is obviously set to expose corruption irrespective of party membership, are his people, Fendrych writes.

This team is detrimental to the ODS because they want justice to be done. An example is the recent accusation of Marek Dalik, former PM and ODS head Mirek Topolanek's close aide, in the case of the purchase of Pandur armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for the military, Fendrych writes.

He says people supported Pospisil because Necas does not want him, because he is afraid of him, because he drove him away from the government.

Another blow to Necas is the success of Libor Michalek who has come close to be elected to the Senate in the next round later this week, which is another step against the ODS, against Necas and against ODS deputy chairman Pavel Drobil, Fendrych writes.

Drobil, former environment minister, promised Michalek the post of deputy environment minister in 2010 if he destroys the wiretappings proving dirty deals at the State Environment Fund (SFZP) falling under the Environment Ministry, Fendrych recalls.

Michalek, however, refused, Drobil resigned as minister, but yet he became the ODS's election manager, Fendrych writes.

He says Michalek's success in the first Senate election round is even more paradoxical and Necas's defeat even bigger when considered in this light.

Fendrych writes that the the ODS cannot be rushing into holding new general election because it would suffer a devastating defeat.

Secret, unofficial negotiations about what steps to take next and whom he would accept as Necas's successor will undoubtedly start right now with President Vaclav Klaus, Fendrych writes.

Klaus, who founded the ODS in 1991 and left it in 2008 over disagreement with its line, is Necas's opponent according to observers.

The result of the regional elections is great for Klaus though he always presented himself as a right-wing politician, Fendrych writes.

He says Klaus has been attacking the government and Necas for many months. The ODS's defeat in the regional elections and the failure in the Senate elections (only ten ODS candidates have advanced to the second round and hardly all of them will succeed in the second round) have come in handy for Klaus, Fendrych writes.

The elections have shown that people are dissatisfied with the ODS and they gave small support to TOP 09 that they link with the ongoing unpopular reforms and austerity measures.

TOP 09 members head the finance, health, and labour and social affairs ministries as well as the Culture Ministry (in charge of church restitution that many people are opposed to), Fendrych writes.

It must be most alarming for TOP 09's brain, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, that the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), or the party of which he used to be a member and which he has stripped of many leading figures to establish TOP 09 in 2009, have dealt him a blow in the elections.

If Klaus offered his party, he could enter the Chamber of Deputies because many see him as an alternative to the ODS and TOP 09, Fendrych writes.

($1=19.238 crowns)