April putsch, but by whom?
Unbiased observers will have trouble making heads or tails of what is going on at the ÚSTR Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. There is no way for an outsider to know whether the removal of Director Daniel Herman was an "April putsch" that heralds the takeover in the country by ČSSD and the Communists, as Petr Nečas claimed yesterday, or whether Herman was simply not a very good director. But even disinterested outsiders can notice that the most-vocal political supporters of the shake-up at the Institute (Lubomír Zaorálek, Jiří Dienstbier) are indeed people who would prefer a ČSSD minority government with Communist support to the main alternative of another ČSSD-ODS opposition agreement. They also happen to be ČSSD politicians who are on Miloš Zeman's *hit list. Surely it's no coincidence that Nečas started screaming "Communist putsch" just as speculation was heating up that parts of ODS and ČSSD are working toward another putsch of the opposition-agreement variety, with the blessing of Zeman and Klaus?
Glossary of difficult words
to make heads or tails of something - to understand something;to herald - to signal or announce the approach of something;
disinterested - not influenced by considerations of personal advantage;
vocal - outspoken, expressive;
shake-up - a radical reorganization;
opposition agreement - an agreement for a minority government between the leading party and the main opposition party;
*hit list - a play on words - 1) a shit list is a list of people whom one dislikes or plans to harm; 2) a hit list is a list of people to be killed for criminal or political reasons.