Politically expedient Petr Pavel

Pres. Petr Pavel pledged in his campaign and inaugural address to restore dignity, respect, decency and other qualities to the country's political leadership, but he didn't make any public effort to persuade PM Petr Fiala to honor the coalition agreement upon which the five-party government came into existence. That agreement doesn't give the PM any way to remove a minister of a coalition partner against the will of the party in question. Pavel made a show of calling meetings on Mon. with the heads of the coalition parties to learn their views on the current situation, but he immediately informed his first guest, Pirates Chair Ivan Bartoš, that he was being removed from office. From the standpoint of keeping the five-party coalition together, that made the following four meetings superfluous. If it had been any other coalition party, Pavel would have no doubt made more of an effort. Petr Pavel had his first big chance as president to demonstrate political principle, but he chose political expediency instead.