Person of the Year
Picking a single Person of the Year is difficult, because Václav Klaus, Miloš Zeman, Petr Nečas, Miroslav Kalousek, Bohuslav Sobotka, Petr Kellner and Andrej Babiš did so much this year to shape Czech society. Also in the running would be a few police officers, prosecutors, analysts, commentators and NGO types who pointed the finger at what these politicians and oligarchs were up to. If we had to choose one person who deserves recognition for doing his job and not selling out, it would be Chair Milan Uhde of the Czech TV Council. He opposed the oligarchization of Czech society by hinting to Respekt at how PPF and its law firm, BBH, installed Petr Dvořák as CEO of Czech TV. Rarely in post-Communist Czech society has an insider risked his neck in such a way. Uhde helped show that the further the country gets away from the Velvet Revolution, the closer it returns to some of things that were supposedly discarded.
Glossary of difficult words
to be in the running - to be in contention for an award, victory or a place on a team;NGO - nongovernmental organization (such as anti-corruption groups);
type - a person regarded as exemplifying a particular profession, rank or social group;
to be up to - to be occupied or busy with; to be engaged in;
to discard - to get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable.