Právo: ČSSD should hope Schwarzenberg wins election

Prague, Jan 14 (CTK) - The opposition Social Democratic Party (CSSD) should hope that Karel Schwarzenberg and not Milos Zeman becomes the next president of the Czech Republic, while Zeman may actually help the centre-right cabinet, Petr Uhl writes in left-wing daily Pravo yesterday.

Former left-wing prime minister Zeman and Schwarzenberg, current foreign minister and chairman of the right-wing TOP 09, advanced from the first round of the direct presidential election held this weekend. Zeman won slightly more votes than Schwarzenberg.

Uhl says the Social Democrat leadership hesitantly supports Zeman to its own detriment and it paradoxically backs the centre-right government of Petr Necas (ODS) in this way.

If Zeman is elected president, he will use all opportunities to take revenge on the CSSD, Uhl writes.

He indicates that Zeman did not miss any opportunity to attack "the traitors" from the CSSD in the past.

Zeman retired from active politics and later left the CSSD after the Social Democrat MPs did not fully support his presidential candidacy in a secret parliamentary vote in 2003. The Party of Citizens' Rights (SPOZ) was formed around Zeman several years ago, but it failed to enter parliament in 2010.

President Schwarzenberg would be better than president Zeman for the CSSD because Schwarzenberg would leave the cabinet, which would weaken the Necas coalition government and threaten the "project" of the conservative TOP 09 as an alternative to the Civic Democrats, Uhl writes.

Moreover, Zeman would try to move the country towards a presidential system because he craves for power, he writes.

Uhl says Zeman has already explained how he would informally but effectively influence the decision making of the government and parliament and he has also formal possibilities to oppose them under the constitution.

Schwarzenberg would not be an activist president, Uhl writes.

Unlike Zeman, Schwarzenberg would seldom attend cabinet meetings. And even if he attended them, he would be slumbering, as he does in parliament as deputy prime minister. If he woke from his slumber, one needs to bear in mind that his hearing is not very good. In other words, Schwarzenberg would do no harm, Uhl writes with irony.

While Zeman would try to extend the presidential powers, Schwarzenberg is a democrat who observes the rules, he says.

It is a shame for a left-wing person to vote for Schwarzenberg who is a part of the Necas government that increased VAT on food and medicines, which harms mostly the poor. Schwarzenberg is a symbol of TOP 09 that pushed through a socially insensitive pension reform, a campaign against welfare abuse that wanted to point to the poor as those who are to blame for problems related to the economic crisis, and the return of property to churches, Uhl writes.

The modern left-wingers criticise Schwarzenberg for the spreading of the lie that the Czech Republic must do its utmost to avoid the Greek path and for his support to controversial Jiri Cunek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) accused of corruption several years ago, Uhl says.

But the risks connected with Zeman are bigger and left-wingers should support Schwarzenberg in the presidential election even if they have reasons to feel ashamed of it, Uhl concludes.