Page 34 - bne_Magazine_March_2018

34 I Central Europe bne March 2018
New CSSD leader Jan Hamacek meets American Czechs in traditional folk costumes.
rule out a government under Babis – a stronger resolution did not gain support – but any deal with Babis will have to go before the party’s
full membership for a vote.
The party also declared that the government must not rely on the neo- fascist SPD. "A government with the support or participation of the CSSD must not rely on the votes of the SDP," the party said in its final resolution.
Alternatively, the CSSD might agree to tolerate a minority Ano government, perhaps staying out of the cabinet and appointing only deputy ministers, as President Zeman has recommended. The president, who is thought to have preferred the traditionalist Zimola as leader, has been strongly backing a Babis minority government and has given
him as long as he needs to win a vote of confidence.
Babis himself now backs this option as his favourite. This scenario would allow him to dominate the government and play off the other parties against each other. The tycoon is already behaving
as if he has won the right to rule, dismissing senior bureaucrats and heads of government agencies even though
he is only acting premier.
Babis commented after the CSSD conference: “We will enter into talks with the Social Democrats and it will
be up to them to state the conditions under which they would tolerate our government or be part of it. We are offering them a place in the government, but we will have to see if the conditions are right. The Mayors and Independents party [Stan] has also opened the door
to negotiations and we will talk with whomever is willing to negotiate.”
deputies. The party is now split between those such as Chovanec who want to rebuild in opposition, and those such as Hamacek and Zimola who believe it can best defend its position by remaining
in government. CSSD and Ano were in government together until December.
Most of all, CSSD fears early elections, which could erode its formerly dominant position even further. A Stem opinion poll last week put it in sixth place with 7.1% support, down from 7.3% at the election. Ano was on 32.5%, up from
The party congress mandated the
new leader and his deputy to renew negotiations with Babis but also passed a resolution declaring that his fraud charges remain a fundamental problem. "The CSSD considers the participation of prosecuted persons in the government as a major problem and calls on Ano not to nominate the prosecuted or accused persons," the resolution says.
Ano, which is largely Babis’ personal vehicle, has refused to consider nominating an alternative premier.
“The united front against Babis is beginning to fracture because of the threat of an Ano government backed by the hard right and hard left”
29.6% at the election, but because two small centre-right parties, Stan and TOP 09, are now in danger of falling below the 5% threshold, it could win an absolute majority.
Hamacek, 39, is a smooth professional politician who speaks several languages and specialises in international affairs. He chaired the parliamentary foreign affairs committee in the past. Seen
as a centrist, between the liberal and traditional wings of the party, he argues that Babis should not be premier but that this might be a better option if the only alternative were early elections.
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Babis, who has also been named as a former agent of the Czechoslovak secret police, has denied any wrongdoing.
The CSSD resolution does not absolutely
Find more Central Europe content at www.bne.eu/central-europe
Selected headlines from past month:
· Italian mafia reaches to heart of Slovak government, murdered journalist's article claims
· Hungary's Soros-founded CEU university wins license extension · Poland to merge PKN Orlen and Lotos into state champion