Wrong man for the job

The reality is that Andrej Babiš is the PM and will likely remain in the post after next year's elections. Another reality is that people who get along with Babiš fare better in negotiations with his government than those who do not. In normal circumstances, opposition to Babiš expressed vocally in the media can serve a useful political or commercial purpose over the medium or long term, because Babiš won't be around forever. For many businesses, though, there is no medium or long term because of covid-19. This makes it a fatal mistake for restaurants and other retail businesses to be represented in negotiations and in the media by one of Babiš's biggest long-term critics, Pres. Tomáš Prouza of the SOCR retailers' union. Restaurants have good arguments for closing at 11pm instead of 10pm, but Babiš won't even listen to them if Prouza presents them. And now Prouza is apparently being groomed by ČSSD a.s. to take over from Vladimír Dlouhý as head of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.