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CSSD, and indeed the remaining parliamentary parties, rallied behind Sobotka during the crisis, as he took on the increasingly powerful Babis. However, if the poll is correct, the uncharismatic Sobotka appears to have blown his big gambit to take on the Czech Republic’s two most popular political figures. With the CSSD poll numbers falling further, he may now face a renewed bat- tle within his party, though so far it has united behind him.
The biggest winner of the crisis appears to be the centre-right ODS, which saw its sup- port grow by 4 points to 13%. The party was CSSD’s only real rival until the last election, when its government collapsed amid corrup-
tion scandals. It now sits above the communist KSCM, which saw its support drop to 11.5%.
Support for the Christian Democrats, the junior partner in the current coalition, grew 2 points to 8.5%. The centre-right Top 09 also gained, add- ing 1 point to 7%.
While there are deep divisions between CSSD and the smaller parties to the right, the appar- ent revival of those conservative parties raises the possibility of a grand coalition. The Zeman- Babis tandem has caused concern across the political spectrum, though the ODS may eventu- ally prefer to join with Babis’ nominally liberal political vehicle.
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