MfD: Babiš's effort to enter Czech political market serious

Prague, March 4 (CTK) - The effort of billionaire Andrej Babis to enter the Czech political market has been undoubtedly serious, Martin Komarek says in daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) in relation to Babis's Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO 2011) party's weekend election conference.

Babis proudly announced that the ANO 2011 has developed its own regional and district branches and that the regional leaders are even paid for their work, Komarek writes.

He says the ANO 2011 may succeed in the general election next year, however, the key factor that will decide it is Babis himself.

Komarek notes that Babis, one of the richest Czech entrepreneurs, has not been directly connected with any case of large-scale fraud or suspicious privatisation.

Babis, 58, is the owner of the Agrofert farm-food and chemical group, one of the biggest Czech companies.

Those who know Babis personally say he controls his business empire in a prudent and competent way and that he is an extremely hard-working person with a modest life style. But they also say Babis wants to take part in all important decision-making and that he has problems with handing powers to anybody else, Komarek writes.

Successful entrepreneurs may be successful politicians, he says, mentioning New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, whom he considers a rather dark example, however.

Komarek says a businessman who has managed to enter Czech politics is Vit Barta. "Barta's rise and fall showed how different business skills and political skills are."

Barta built the Public Affairs (VV) party partly as a firm and partly as a marketing trick. He did not lead the party but he hired pretty girls who posed for a calendar and investigative journalist Radek John who was still considered honest and intelligent by many people then, Komarek says.

Everybody knows how embarrassing results Barta's political enterprise has had, he adds.

The VV entered parliament in 2010 and became the smallest partner in the centre-right government of Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS). Following various disputes and scandals the VV's popularity plummeted and it split and moved to opposition a year ago. Its preferences fell under 1 percent, latest opinion polls show.

Though Babis may end up like Barta, he may also succeed, Komarek writes.

It will be crucial whether Babis will be able to distinguish between business management and political work. He is the only big sponsor of his party. In business, the person who pays is the absolute boss. In politics, money is necessary but it is not enough, Komarek says.

ANO's weekend conference nearly unanimously re-elected Babis the party's leader, but this may change - especially if popular personalities or skilful politicians join the party. Babis can and must finance these personalities, yet he cannot buy them, Komarek writes.

He says Babis may even manage to enter parliament with "a sack of fleas" like Barta, but these fleas would annoy everybody and run away as soon as possible, like in Barta's case.

"It would be unwise, however, to condemn Babis's party only because it seems to be an enterprise of a single man rather than a real political movement," Komarek writes.

The present political system is not sustainable for a long time because its two pillars, the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats (CSSD), are undermined. The citizens are watching the poor performance of politicians with disgust and they cannot understand the government's reforms, Komarek points out.

The votes for the left-wing opposition are protest voters, opinion polls indicate. Only few voters would say they support the CSSD or the Communists (KSCM) because they believe that these parties know how to get rid of corruption, make politics decent and bring prosperity to the country, Komarek writes.

He says people are strongly dissatisfied and nobody has been offering new politics to them. Moreover, the case of Barta and his collaborators makes people alert to such offers.

From this point of view, Babis is acting courageously and responsibly when he is trying to establish a new party, although he calls the party "a movement" because the word "party" is highly unpopular in the country, Komarek writes.

Babis is well aware that one can change politics only from within, by joining it, he indicates.

Komarek says the major political parties, including the KSCM and TOP 09, have been recycling old politicians and they do not seem to know that this way of creating new faces is detrimental in the long term and that it will soon stop working, especially when new ideas and leaders are lacking.

The political system can be changed only by a revolution in the ODS and the CSSD, which is not probable, or by an offer of new parties. The millions of crowns Babis has been investing in the ANO 2011 is money invested for a good purpose, Komarek says.

Babis has to make a choice: he will either learn to be a political leader or hand the steering wheel to somebody experienced in politics, Komarek concludes.