The Communists are back

The Communist Party (KSČM) will not likely return to power as a result of the elections, despite what many foreign and domestic news outlets predicted, but the Communists are indeed back. Never since 1990 have ex-Communists or candidates for membership in the old KSČ held so many top positions in Czech politics and society. Both the president, Miloš Zeman, and the PM, Jiří Rusnok (candidate), fall into this category, as do Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský of the Constitutional Court, Chief Justice Josef Baxa of the Supreme Administrative Court (cand.), Chair Andrej Babiš of ANO, CEO Petr Dvořák of Czech TV (cand.) and numerous leading figures in business, justice and education. These people are no longer Communists in the Marxist sense; they are serving the new regime. They are overseeing the consolidation of power and wealth in the hands of the Five Families (plus Babiš), or the oligarchs, if you prefer.