Zeman's castle vision

Zdeněk Škromach of ČSSD lost his trademark moustache in a bet and no longer makes the finest Santa Claus in government. He's still handing out gifts, though. The problem for Jiří Paroubek is that the gifts are meant for ODS. As Paroubek was scrambling to disrupt the budding ODS government, Škromach waxed the floors by telling Czech Radio that ODS won the elections and has the right to govern. It's no surprise that this echoed remarks by Miloš Zeman. As Alexandr Mitrofanov of Právo noted on Czech TV, Škromach is merely an instrument of Zeman. Because of his limitations, though, Škromach isn't a viable replacement for Paroubek as ČSSD chairman. That's why we can expect that, once he has ingratiated himself to ODS by serving up some anti-Paroubek rebels, Zeman will come shuffling back to Paroubek. Zeman will need him for dealing the final blow to Václav Klaus.