Prague, Nov 30 (CTK) – It was Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka´s advisers who forced him to start a dispute with President Milos Zeman over the latter´s way of marking the November 17 national holiday, while Sobotka is not convinced about his own words, Zeman´s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said on Monday.
In the past days, Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) criticised Zeman for appearing at the celebrations side by side with members of the Bloc Against Islam extremist movement that is radically opposed to Muslim immigration.
In doing so, Zeman has sided with the populists who sponge on people´s fear of Islamic State and the migrant crisis, and legitimised the spreading of extreme xenophobia and hatred, Sobotka said.
Ovcacek, who was speaking to the Czech Radio Plus station, said Sobotka´s attack on Zeman was well thought-out and planned.
He referred to a statement Sobotka´s adviser Ota Novotny made in media.
“Which is crucial, very sad, and a which amounts to blatant disloyalty, is that the prime minister´s advisers publicly declare that they forced him to do it [criticise Zeman],” Ovcacek said.
He said Sobotka´s aides such as Vladimir Spidla and Tomas Prouza (both CSSD) “forced” Sobotka to “thrash the bad Zeman.”
“I´m even convinced that the prime minister is not internally convinced about it [his own step],” Ovcacek said.
The time will show who of the two was right, whether Zeman or Sobotka, he added.
Spidla dismissed Ovcacek´s allegation.
“The prime minister is an extraordinarily strong political personality who makes decisions on his own,” Spidla told Czech Radio.
Ovcacek said Sobotka-Zeman debates about migration will continue because Zeman´s view completely differs from Sobotka´s.
Nevertheless, the debate will no longer be conducted on a personal level. At a mid-December meeting of the top elected officials, the two will probably mention their controversy only marginally, Ovcacek said.
He said Zeman does not consider his November 17 appearance at the Prague-Albertov university campus a mistake.
To Zeman, it is important to have addressed the people who gathered at Albertov. He disagrees with the extremist positions of the Bloc Against Islam leader Martin Konvicka, Ovcacek said.
“By his presence, the president makes movements like this illegitimate. If someone enhances the rise of extremism, it is the politicians who refuse to listen to what the public says,” Ovcacek said, probably in a hint to the public´s apprehensions of the migrant wave.
