The end of an era

With the resignation of the founding father of the ODS, „an era“ has ended. For those who were watching the dramatic congress of the strongest government party over the weekend, it could not have gone unnoticed that the party's bond to Václav Klaus is not as strong as some may have expected. Though several politicians (for example the deputy Vidím or the former Central Bohemia regional governor Bendl) wept over Klaus' vigorous pounding, but most of them stuck to the motto „it's no drama, let's go on“. The key for politics and administration of the state, of course, will be what direction the ODS will choose in the post-Klaus period.

The re-election of Mirek Topolánek as party leader has outlined a little the party's future direction. Although his election victory was not at all impressive (Topolánek received 284 votes, while his rival Pavel Bém received 162 votes), most of the delegates leaned toward Topolánek's vision that the ODS should remain in the coalition government and try to push through important reforms (pension and health care), which are important for the country. And also to adopt the radar as soon as possible. On the other hand, the delegates refused Bém's calling for the break-up of the coalition and his bet on an uncertain attempt at a minority government with the support of the ČSSD.

However, something else is more interesting about the issue. "We…