Prague, Oct 12 (CTK) – Thursday’s verdict of the Slovak Constitutional Court cancelling the previous court decisions that Andrej Babis, leader of the Czech government ANO, was registered wrongly as an agent of the Communist StB secret police, is unlikely to impact ANO’s result in the upcoming general election, political scientists have told CTK.
Political scientist David Kunstat maintains that the case is old, well-known to the public, and has not impacted public preferences much so far.
Kunstat said most Czechs do not regard politicians’ past in relation to the Communist regime as a factor in choosing their political representation.
Likewise, political scientist Jan Kubacek said the issue itself would not deter further voters of ANO. On the other hand, those who are supporters of ANO, will be strengthened in their view.
“They will, again, perceive this [Slovak verdict] – and Andrej Babis will remind them eagerly of it – as an effort to remove him from politics and from the public life,” Kubacek said.
Neither will the harsh reactions of Babis’s political opponents influence the standpoints of the public, he said.
“There will be heaps of commentaries around the issue, but in essence, it is an affair that is distant to many, which is old and slushy, in the sense that every man has a different opinion,” Kubacek said.
