Zeman's hapless band

What Vratislav Mynář and Michal Hašek failed to do before and immediately after the elections to spoil Miloš Zeman's reputation, three of his "expert" ministers are now doing with great alacrity. Labor Minister František Koníček convinced the cabinet to pay twice the previous Kč 140m amount for a building on Letná and to send the money to an anonymous owner. Interior Minister Martin Pecina informed the cabinet that he intends to ignore the public-procurement law so that he can agree directly with Audi and Škoda dealers on two car purchases worth a total of Kč 48m. And Transport Minister Václav Žák plans a Kč 30m feasibility study for the Danube-Oder-Elbe canal, when a fair price might be closer to Kč 5m. What stands out about these three rush jobs is that the ministers in question all ran for election for SPOZ. They weren't in office long enough to organize any real swindles, so Zeman's ministers won't be able to found a real-estate fund, like Mirek Topolánek. Instead, they'll go down in history as Zeman's hapless band of petty thieves.