Election watch: ČSSD big on promises

There is a proverb that goes, "Promises are like babies: easy to make, hard to deliver."

Voters are well advised to keep this in mind in light of the mounting list of promises emanating from the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), which wrapped its party congress March 14.

ČSSD pledges to increase payments to pensioners and single mothers, abolish health fees and raise sick-leave benefits. And then there is party leader Jiří Paroubek's other top priority, more money for sports, a populist pledge that came in the wake of the Czech hockey team's elimination from the Olympics. The declaration prompted an amusing front-page headline from one daily reading: "Paroubek: I will save hockey."

ČSSD's tactics are no doubt great for campaigning and have placed other major parties on the defensive, but their pledges fly in the face of a predicted 4 percent budget deficit in 2010, and a budget deficit from 2009 that ended up five times larger than forecasts. But fear not, ČSSD says they can pay for the increased social benefits, even if their math is a little off.

Among the ways ČSSD plans to generate money is to increase taxes on tobacco and alcohol, which were already raised this year. These are taxes that, ironically, tend to disproportionately affect the working poor: ČSSD's base voters. Much of the rest in savings comes in the form of the classically vague political pledge to boost efficiency and root out corruption. Any voter who believes ČSSD is a solution - rather than a contributor - to a culture of political corruption is not paying attention.

The big news from the party congress came as Paroubek floated the idea of forming a coalition with the Communist Party (KSČM), a prospect even the KSČM themselves did not fully endorse.

But, luckily for ČSSD, they may be the May election's big winner by default. Civic Democratic (ODS) leader Mirek Topolánek has seen his party's fortunes consistently fall in opinion polls since he decided to resign from Parliament last year to "prepare for the elections." Topolánek has taken the opposite tactic of ČSSD, trading utopian promises for a big chip on his shoulder.

In an October 2009 interview with The Prague Post, Topolánek said the following: "Paroubek brought this style of confrontation, based on envy and hatred, into politics. ... He functions only based on personal combat and is ideologically empty. I refuse to be associated with this type of politics."

If only Topolánek would heed his own advice. He was asked by the Czech News Agency for his reaction to ČSSD's party congress.

"I don't know what kind of Bolshevik conference it is. There is no reason to comment on it," Topolánek said, perhaps not realizing he was, in fact, offering a comment.

One wonders what exactly it is Topolánek has been preparing for the past six months and if he realizes that politics, by definition, usually requires reactions to your opponent's proposals.

On the bright side for Topolánek, it increasingly appears he will have plenty of summer holiday time to relax in Italian villas.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com