The next Pres. Zeman
Miloš Zeman, or the people around him, will no doubt try to anoint a successor as president, which will narrow the field considerably on the illiberal side of the spectrum. The problem will be the opposite on the liberal side, where the lineup is starting to resemble the 20-odd free-for-all in the Democratic race to dethrone Donald Trump. At least 10 people are being mentioned as possible challengers to the Zeman-Babiš-Klaus-Filip-Okamura mini-world order, but no single name stands out. What the liberals need is a good product, not just a good candidate. (There are several of those.) Dissident years spent in prison à la Václav Havel can't be reproduced in today's non-totalitarian era, but the scandalous firing of a prominent police officer, judge or prosecutor who objected to a perversion of justice by an oligarch might be the next best thing. Watch the supreme state prosecutor very closely, and you might just conclude that he is maneuvering to become the next Pres. Zeman.
Glossary of difficult words
to anoint - to nominate or choose (someone) as successor to or leading candidate for a position;
lineup - a group of people or things brought together for a particular purpose;
-odd - a little more than;
free-for-all - a disorganized or unrestricted situation or event in which everyone may take part;
to dethrone - to remove (someone) from a position of authority or dominance;
perversion - distortion or corruption of the original course, meaning or state of something.