The Hrdlička bribe chart
Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda insisted in MFD today that Miroslav Kalousek is the "father" of the breakup of the ODS-TOP 09 coalition at city hall and that Karel Schwarzenberg is the "godfather" (and Kalousek's puppet). That would apparently make Tomáš Hrdlička of ODS something like the conniving and scheming uncle. He and his kindred spirits from ODS and ČSSD (Milan Richter, Boris Šťastný, Karel Březina, etc.) crippled the Prague coalition so that Kalousek could come in for the kill. What Hrdlička's group hopes to get is not only access to such gold mines as DP Praha and Pražské služby, but also the reinstatement of something commonly known as the "Hrdlička chart." It defines in precise terms how much a developer must pay in bribes for zoning approval. Since Svoboda came to power, it hasn't been working so well. Worst of all for Hrdlička, the payoffs have been going in the wrong direction.
Glossary of difficult words
conniving - devious and scheming; engaging in underhanded, treacherous or manipulative activity;kindred spirit - a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one's own;
to come in (move in, close in) for the kill - to take decisive action, often ruthlessly, to turn a situation to one's advantage;
zoning - the process or policy of dividing a town or stretch of land into areas subject to particular planning restrictions; land use;
payoff - a payment made to someone, esp. as a bribe or reward.