A different theory argues that a legal dispute between Mafra, the publisher of the Mladá Fronta Dnes newspaper, and the Mladá Fronta publishing house over the Mladá Fronta trademark --- and the alleged connection between some of the protagonists of this dispute and Gross --- may have served as the trigger for the launch of the media assault. But the most widely peddled conspiracy theory now is that an interest group has decided to strengthen the powers of Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka by weakening Gross. Some people even think that this may be former Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla's revenge.

No matter what the original impulse for starting the campaign, it was quite amazing to see that Gross so obligingly took over and continued to run with the story himself. It was his series of ludicrous, contradictory statements that caused all the other Czech media, who originally ignored the MFD campaign, to take notice. Gross' clumsiness is a matter of concern: if the prime minister makes an incompetent mess of his response to media accusations, is this how he also deals with affairs of state?

What is striking about this whole affair is what incredible disdain all the parties (both politicians and the media) have been displaying for the ordinary citizen. The media has been manipulating the public, but Gross has also behaved unacceptably. Right at the outset, a democratic politician should have congratulated the attacking journalists for the excellence of their investigative work and should have revealed the relevant details about the purchase of the flat, thus dispelling all suspicion at a stroke. But Central European politicians seem to be confident that they can remain arrogant and secretive and nothing will happen to them.

The whole affair strongly resembles a shadowy puppet theater. The opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) "confronted" Gross in Parliament, but this turned out to be an unconvincing, perfunctory charade. It was obvious there was something the parties involved were not telling. At the same time, Gross kept making ever more and more absurd revelations about himself.

I may be wrong, but I still believe that Gross is probably not one of the most corrupt individuals on the Czech political scene. Yet his amateurish and arrogant reaction to the media accusations has given us a rare insight into the world inhabited by top Czech politicians. Do they really think it is acceptable to buy land, expecting it to increase in value as a result of their own policies? Do they really think it is normal in Europe that a prime minister counts among his close family friends a person who rents her property to a brothel?

There is almost no doubt that the initial attack on Gross was conceived as an act of underhanded political manipulation. Nevertheless, it may have a cleansing effect on the political scene if it makes politicians finally realize that if they act unacceptably, their behavior will be ruthlessly used by political opponents for their own ends --- so they had better remain clean. That would be a happy ending to this whole sorry affair.

Originally published in Czech Business Weekly HERE