It's impossible to avoid the individual failure of a person, but here the system failed. Scandals in the police department, inspections, information leaks, wire-tapping abuse, etc. — it all happened during former governments under Miloš Zeman, Vladimír Špidla, Stanislav Gross and Jiří Paroubek.

The ČSSD pretends today that "it's over." It's not true. Gross is still chairman of the ČSSD's security commission, and his people are involved. And the party pretends to be innocent? The socialists need a few years' break from influence over security units. Hands off the Interior Ministry, Army, inspectorate and intelligence agencies — this should be a motto of every future coalition agreement.

And one more thing is surprising: Why is it that all scandals end up in offices of ministers? Secretaries are investigated, but their bosses don't know a thing. Maybe the bosses in the ČSSD have unbelievably bad luck on insidious colleagues who are given high powers. If they are so bad in managing secretariats' offices, how do they manage to run the state? At least one of them knew very well what Doležel and the others were doing, from the beginning until now.

Mirek Topolánek's government will perhaps be remembered as the Indian summer government, Martin Komárek writes in Mladá fronta Dnes Oct. 12. And this government was the shortest one in the modern history of the country.

It's more appropriate to judge the government after its first 100 days. But Topolánek didn't have 100 days. In a short period, his ministers stirred up several scandals. Ivan Langer, the interior minister, uncovered the wiretapping of journalists and politicians. Vlastimil Tlustý, the finance minister, argued in his ads that his predecessor, Bohuslav Sobotka, put the country in debt.

Of course, it wasn't, in fact, a government, but only a temporary form of ruling nongovernment that has somehow lasted since June 3. Lack of a proper government means stagnation. The main competing parties promised voters so many useful laws that it was impossible to realize even a few of them.

Now it's becoming a nightmare, though. Will there be nonstate hospitals? Who will put together pension reform? It seems Topolánek and Paroubek don't take these things seriously. But there is a difference between the two.

Topolánek made a mistake when he dissolved the coalition. But he is sensible about one important thing: He demands new elections.

On the contrary, Paroubek thinks more about himself than the country. He says new elections are only good for the Civic Democrats (ODS) so he doesn't accept them. This is a terrible thing to say.

Unfortunately, not even Topolánek's Indian summer dreams suggested new elections. From a political point of view, these have been useless days. There had better be real politicians now, or we face a major crisis.