Sobotka learns from Comrade Stalin

When asked at a Politburo meeting in 1923 by Lev Kamenev how to "conquer the majority" in the party, Joseph Stalin famously explained that it is completely unimportant who in the party votes, or how, but that what is extraordinarily important is who counts the votes, and how. Conquering the majority in 2014 looks very similar. ČSSD Chair Bohuslav Sobotka wants to institute primary elections in his party that are "open to all members" but that produce a final candidate list for regional and parliamentary elections that have at least 40% "persons of the opposite sex." This is a ČSSD circumlocution for "women." What Sobotka does not reveal is how ČSSD will decide which men to eliminate, and how to do it, if there are too many of them running. And since these primaries will not be subject to the election laws of the country, a Stalin-like approach to counting the votes could become a very attractive way to enforce gender equality.