Prague - The sudden turnabout of the Leader of the Socialist Party (CSSD) to cancel forthcoming elections by abstaining from voting to dissolve the Parliament must have been rather surprising. "Though we would surely win," he said, "we are not interested (only) in power." The pressing need for the country is a budget and a stable government (which elections might not provide).
Why are the elections suddenly not considered to be in the public's best interest? November is a cruel month for the socialists. The 20th anniversary of the toppling of the Communist regime would generate antipathy towards the loose coalition of Socialists with the Communists. Reminiscence of the old regime would not be particularly conducive to gain undecided votes especially since the Party´s leadership is a peculiar triumvirate composed of Paroubek, Zaorálek and Rath.
The woes of November inlude the bad weather as well and could thus unpleasantly lower the socialists' chances of success. They need an extra few percent from the beer drinking classes, those perpetual moaners, for whom it is so difficult to gather strength to go to the polls in autumn's chill.
The campaign posters, intended for the beginning of October, will have lost some of their aggressive appeal and novelty by November, and spending the little money left would not bring much hope. And how wonderfully would this delay harm T0P 09, the new rising party, which seemed to have flooded the country with the popular face of the aristocratic contender?
I don't know whether the party chairman really believes that his September edge in the polls will still be relevant in November, but one thing is certain: How can a party, whose sole existence is founded on the unshakeable belief that there will always be money in the Government kitty, suddenly find itself running a country that is heading for bankruptcy.
How can a social party save the budget by cutting social security and even, horror of horrors, cut the number of Government employees? Has anyone ever seen a social bureaucracy sacking bureaucrats? Let the interim government bear that responsibility and shoulder the deficit. Let it be blamed. The public has a short memory. And by June, the recession might be over.
Tragic is the state of our democracy. We have allowed our politicians (excluding corruption and their chairs on the boards of state owned companies) to earn the equivalent of the 10 ordinary salaries. It was thus us who turned them into political entrepreneurs. Their rhetoric of deceit is our fault. Why have we allowed equal voting right for unequal citizens? Have we not envisaged that too often for comfort the lowest common denominator wins?
