Bad boy Bek
Education Min. Mikuláš Bek is giving STAN a bad name. First it was his overpriced apartment, then it was his three-day work week in Prague, truancy in the Senate and flashing light for getting home quickly to Moravia. Then it was the speculation that he wanted to squeeze ex-Education Min. Robert Plaga out of his job as head of the National Accreditation Office to create a sinecure for himself when he leaves the ministry. And to top it all off, Bek overpays for his Senate office in Brno. As the good soldier Švejk would say, "It's a disgrace; the papers are full of it." It makes Bek look like someone who uses and abuses his office to the full extent, including perhaps skimming off the top. And that's a problem for STAN, because Bek is piddling around with thousands and low millions, whereas STAN's real bigwigs are dealing in hundreds of millions and billions: Dosimeter, Net4Gas, RWE Gas Storage, gigafactories, onsemi. To protect its business model, STAN will need to get Bek out of the headlines.
Glossary of difficult words
bad boy - a man who does not conform to approved standards of behavior, esp. in a particular sphere of activity;
truancy - the action of staying away from school without good reason; absenteeism;
sinecure - a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit;
to top off - to finish something in a memorable or notable way;
to skim off the top - to secretly and illegally take money that belongs to an organization or business one works for;
to piddle around with - to spend time in unimportant or trifling activities;
bigwig - an important person, esp. in a particular sphere.