The Topolánek Era Ends

28. 3. 2010

Former premier Mírek Topolánek said in an interview for gay magazine LUI that Transport Minister Gustáv Slamečka would fold under pressure, once he is homosexual, just as would Prime Minister Jan Fischer, adding that was so not only because the premier is Jewish, but because that is his character, referring to him as a submissive leader. Topolánek also said the Church made idiots of the masses.

That led the head of the Czech Senate, Přemysl Sobotka, to call for the leader of the centre-right Civic Democrats Topolánek to stand down after controversial comments about the Church, gays, Jews and the prime minister.

Caretaker government premier Fischer described the comments as "insulting, stupid and devious" and said he would keep his communication with Topolánek to a working minimum. Prime Minister Fischer heads a caretaker government of appointed experts put together by the major parties after Topolánek's elected government lost a vote of no confidence in early 2009.

Topolánek apologized in a public letter to the Church, gays and Jews:

"I apologize to the gays, to my friends and to all others. I apologize to the members of churches -- to those I know as well as to those whom I do not know. I apologize to Jews -- those in politics as well as outside it. I apologize to the citizens," he said.

Topolánek's words were obviously taken out of context, as can be seen in the original pirate mobile phone video of the remarks. He was evidently repeating widely spread jokes, not making a statement about those issues. The former premier is known among gays and lesbians for his support of homosexual causes, unlike many in his center-right party.

The former prime minister is no stranger to controversy, though, having slapped a photographer taking pictures of his baby son; described the original, doomed EU constitution as "shit"; and raised his middle finger to opponents in a parliamentary debate, called Barack Obama's economic recovery plan "the road to hell" and was photographed sunbathing full frontal naked at Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi's villa.

But after Senator Přemysl Sobotka's protest, ODS leaders met for nearly 12 hours of talks with senior colleagues on Tuesday, convincing Topolánek to give up his position as the main candidate in his Moravia region and as the main face for the upcoming general elections. He remains as head of the party, although Jiří Pospíšil, head of the Plzen regional branch of the Civic Democrats, said that Mírek Topolánek should resign from that post as well.

Media reports point to ODS Deputy Chairman and Prague City Counsil member David Vodrážka as the probable real heir to the position of leader of the party. Many have speculated about Prague mayor Pavel Bém as a contender, who is said to have helped architect a previous attempt to topple Topolánek, but he lacks support outside the urban areas.

Vice-chairman Petr Nečas (who has a degree in Physics) was then chosen to lead the Civic Democrats into the May elections. Nečas was Minister of Labour and Social Affairs during the previous government and is a veteran of the party. He was once a protegé of Václav Klaus and lost to Topolánek the fight for the post of ODS leader when Klaus was forced out after losing the 2002 elections.

In reaction to the change in their main rival's leadership, former premier Jiří Paroubek, from the Social Democrats (ČSSD) said Nečas has to distance himself from the former Minister of Interior and current ODS campaign coordinator, Ivan Langer, who has been suspected of having ties to organized crime, and should apologize for the failure of Topolánek's government. He also urged Nečas to conduct an election campaign without negative attack ads.

Nečas refused the words of his rival and said Paroubek could not be taken seriously since the Social Democrats themselves have in their midst politicians with controversial issues surrounding them.

After becoming the new face of ODS, Nečas was portrayed by the media as a grey politician, bureaucratic type, without charisma, although also not tainted by any scandals or suspicions of corruption. To counter that image, immediately the party's spin doctors called a press conference, where Nečas tried to show a stronger image, threatening to withdraw the ODS ministers from the government if they are not given the cabinet seats that had just been freed up by the Green Party -- the ministries of Environment and for Minorities. He accuses the government of making a non-transparent arrangement with the Social Democratic Party for the appointment of current Minister of Agriculture Jakub Šebesta to also head the environmental ministry. That position was vacated when Green Party nominee Jan Dusík resigned in protest for being pressured by Premier Fischer to issue permits to the state energy company ČEZ for the modernization of a controversial power plant. He said the prime minister wanted an immediate decision over whether to give the go-ahead for modernization of the Prunéřov II plant, while Dusík wanted state electricity producer ČEZ to accept some environmentally sound changes to make the plant less polluting.

That position was vacated when Green Party nominee Jan Dusík resigned in protest for being pressured by Premier Fischer to issue permits to the state energy company ČEZ for the modernization of a controversial power plant. He said the prime minister wanted an immediate decision over whether to give the go-ahead for modernization of the Prunéřov II plant, while Dusík wanted state electricity producer ČEZ to accept some environmentally sound changes to make the plant less polluting.

The second cabinet seat available comes from the resignation of former rock pop star and dissident Michael Kocáb. The Green Party, which nominated him to the post, asked him to leave the cabinet in protest against the appointment of Agriculture Minister Jakub Šebesta to the head of the Ministry of Environment. Kocáb had also recently almost left his post after the tabloid daily Blesk unveiled a romantic affair between him and his spokesperson, Leila Abbas. Kocáb first said he would stay on to try to rebuild support for the interim government, but the Green Party has insisted on his resignation.

President Václav Klaus met with Prime Minister Fischer to discuss the government crisis and criticized Nečas indirectly, saying it would be irresponsible to change the government only a few weeks before the elections and suggested Premier Fischer himself take over the running of the environmental and human rights ministries.

Green Party leader Ondřej Liška said Monday that Šebesta has already marked himself out in office for his anti-environmental decisions. He added that the country now appeared to have a Social Democrat dominated government on the eve of elections, echoing the new ODS top candidate, Nečas. The Green Party then decided to no longer support the caretaker Czech cabinet.

A group of Greenpeace activists then climbed to the top of a 300-metre chimney at the coal-fired power plant at the centre of the row which caused Dusík to quit as environment minister. Greenpeace accuses the company of responsibility for Dusík's resignation and say the new Minister of Environment is a ČEZ puppet. They ended the protest on Wednesday.

The current public debacle of top names from ODS has created a vacuum for center right voters. Many experts are talking about the end of the main right wing party in the country. After President Klaus left the party he was a symbol of, in protest against what he perceived as being the wrong direction for the party and against Topolánek's policies, ODS was not quick enough to disperse the image of having lost its core principles. If the face that has apparently been chosen to become the new leader of ODS, David Vodrážka will not bring new excitement to the right wing voters, we may see the biggest change in Czech politics in two decades.

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