How much, dear minister?
Justice Minister Marie Benešová already has one foot out the door but is doing all she can to keep both of Pavel Tykač's feet out of prison for (allegedly) stripping Kč 1.2bn from the CS Fondy in 1997. Industry Minister Jiří Cienciala has also been busy. He signed a memorandum of understanding this week with OKD/NWR that could save the owners of the Paskov mine about Kč 1.2bn in shutdown costs, despite an insistence from PM Jiří Rusnok in Sept. that it's not the cabinet's job to resolve the problems of private companies. It's not yet clear who will benefit the most from Interior Minister Martin Pecina's decision to return Petr Lessy to the post of police president, but it's worth noting that Václav Klaus was always one of Lessy's biggest defenders. Despite Klaus's claim of a "regime change" in the country, each of these departing ministers is behaving as if the regime Klaus so pines for is very much alive and well.
Glossary of difficult words
to have one foot out the door - to be about to depart from a place;to pine for - to miss and long for the return of;
alive and well - still existing or active (often used to deny rumors or beliefs that something has disappeared or declined).