Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka gained ground on Tuesday against rivals trying to depose him as party chief and candidate for prime minister, after an unconvincing election win last weekend. Sobotka said he would call a session of the powerful 190-strong central committee, the highest party body other than a congress, for November 10 to settle scores after what he called an attempted coup. “This meeting will decide the party’s future and what kind of politics it will stand for, a democratic and autonomous one, or if it becomes a service organisation of behind-the-scenes players,” he said.
