Chovanec is back

The ghost of Milan Chovanec is now at the center of Czech politics. Chovanec's spiritual return began in earnest on March 27, when ČSSD Chair Jan Hamáček suddenly demanded the interior or finance ministry, or nothing. The moment the interior ministry became ČSSD's symbol of resistance, Andrej Babiš began speaking again about Chovanec's police reform and the Beretta case. Politicians and others with ties to Chovanec, including Martin Nejedlý of the Castle, are now spreading the rumor that Miloš Zeman is so angry at Babiš because of the Novichok and Nikulin matters that he is prepared to dump him as PM. Perhaps. Another possibility is that Zeman sees that Chovanec is back from the dead, despite his best efforts in Feb. to bury him. An obvious way for Zeman to put Chovanec to rest once and for all is to agree with Babiš on forcing early elections by appointing two new governments in quick succession. Either both will fail, and new elections will be held this fall, or someone will succumb to the huge pressure and agree to give Zeman and Babiš the government they both want.