Sobotka v Zeman
Eastern approaches 2014-01-17
Summary:
AFTER dragging out the process for weeks, Miloš Zeman, the Czech president, formally appointed a Social Democrat, Bohuslav Sobotka (pictured), as prime minister on January 17th. Even so, a constitutional struggle is set to continue.
Mr Sobotka already beat back a power grab by Mr Zeman late last year as the president sought to manoeuvre what he considered a more amiable partner into the position of Social Democrat chairman, and thus in the prime ministerial job. When he was leader of the Social Democrats in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mr Zeman brought the party to prominence. He blames party members now allied with Mr Sobotka for his subsequent fall from grace.
Mr Zeman is now strongly hinting at holding up cabinet appointees, in particular Lubomír Zoarálek, the nominee for foreign minister and one of the party’s deputy chairmen. For his part, Mr Sobotka has not backed down. The normally soft spoken leader held a press conference on January 15th in which he strongly asserted that the makeup of his government would not be dictated by the president. It would be naive for Mr Sobotka to underestimate Mr...Continue reading