The state agency Czech Invest reports that the value of investment from private funds in the Czech Republic fell by half year-on-year reaching CZK 10.5 billion in the first half of 2009. And as the national debt is growing sharply, analysts are beginning to threaten state bankruptcy filing.
In a situation like that, the country needs more than ever a leader who gets at the core of a problem, sets out a vision for improving the situation and encourages people not to cry and help make the change happen.
The upcoming elections give an ideal opportunity to do so.
However, when looking at the leaders of the two most influential parties, it is clear that neither one will fill this space.
The election campaign topics will focus on who is more efficient in applying the secret police methods, who is wiretapping more and whom and who has become a bigger victim of media attacks.
The latest yacht scandal could teach Mirek Topolánek a lesson that keeping close relations with lobbyists is not worth it, as political rivals will always use it to discredit you. But we can hardly expect this level of reflection from the leader of the blue team given his hysterical self-observation.
Jiří Paroubek, the leader of the orange Social Democrats, also showed a lack of reflection when members of the ODS illegally published the so called Kubice report. Up until now, the ČSSD head has been a friend with the Kočka family who has been accused of mob ties.
This year’s polls will surely bring to mind the elections held before 1998. That’s when the Czech economy was also falling. But instead of submitting meaningful schemes, party leaders attacked one another. The result turned out to be a large quasi-coalition called “the opposition agreement”.
