Klaus could return

MANY Czechs think that their political system needs new faces. But politics sometimes seems to be heading backwards, not forwards. After months of political drama involving President Miloš Zeman (who first came to prominence in the dying weeks of the Communist regime in 1989), another hoary political veteran, Václav Klaus, seems to be plotting a comeback.

A chaotic campaign season has opened in the run up to the elections on October 25th-26th. Most established parties are likely to lose votes. A gaggle of amorphous start-ups are scrambling to sort themselves out. Mr Klaus, only a few months after leaving his second presidential term, seems to sense a vacuum, saying he is "seriously considering" a return to parliamentary politics. "The situation seems to me hopeless and if there were chance of speaking into it, it might be worthwhile," he said in an August 26^th interview with Czech Television. There is no shortage of groups lining up to court his favour. 

The ease with which Mr Zeman took the country's political reins and the excitement greeting Mr Klaus's purported return is perhaps the strongest sign yet of the failure of the Czech political class. The two men formed a grand...Continue reading