Nečas talks election

Panic struck the Civic Democrats (ODS) in March, as the party slid in the polls and its leader Mirek Topolánek made one public relations gaffe too many. The quick-fix solution was to turn over the keys of the party to Petr Nečas in the lead-up to the May 28-29 election.

But the question remains, was it too little too late?

Nečas says his leadership stopped the party's slide in the polls - even if it hasn't bounced back - and he told The Prague Post he is optimistic heading into the vote.  

Asked for the biggest challenge facing the Czech Republic in the coming year, Nečas gave three.

"The state of our public finances, imminent growing of indebtedness and increasing unemployment," he said. "There is a big risk, above all, that long-term unemployment will continue for a long time."

While Nečas is not known as a skilled orator or a political figure who elicits strong emotions, he does have the reputation of being the cleanest man in Czech politics, a moniker that may prove useful to the scandal-plagued Civic Democrats.

But that cleanliness was put to the test when questions turned toward corruption and, specifically, the political influence of energy giant ČEZ.

"ČEZ in its current form is a creation of the Social Democrats, which allowed ČEZ to gain such a strong position on the market," Nečas said. "The ODS proposes increasing competition so people can more easily switch between energy suppliers."

But when pressed on the recent plan to expand the Prunéřov coal-fired power plant that was pushed through by Environment Minister Rut Bízková, a former ČEZ employee, Nečas chose his words carefully, never alluding to what is widely seen as a prime example of ČEZ's undue influence.

"The approval for Prunéřov's extension by the Environment Ministry is just a first step," he said. "The consent is subject to the requirements for reduction of emissions limits. Proposals for such measures have yet to be assessed and reviewed."

Nečas does insist, as do all the party leaders, that tackling corruption is a major priority.

"We stress transparency, centralized purchases, implementing of electronic auctions, public advertising of all information about tenders including contractual documents and representatives nominated to commissions," he said.

While the ODS is likely to trail the Social Democrats (ČSSD) in the overall vote count coming out of the election, the party may find itself better positioned to form a governing coalition with a proliferation of center-right parties likely to make it into Parliament.

"We will attempt to create a coalition of budgetary responsible parties," Nečas said of his post-election plan, with an eye, in particular, on TOP 09.

He was more direct on who the ODS would not cooperate with.   

"We strictly reject any form of cooperation with the Communists," Nečas said.

In fact, Nečas says he and his party support banning the Communists (KSČM) in their current form.

With no single party likely to win even a third of the votes May 28-29 and speculation rampant about the configuration of any possible government, Nečas comes close to ruling out what is seen as a potential nightmare scenario for anybody hoping the elections will produce a new brand of politics - a grand coalition between the ODS and the ČSSD.

"There is almost zero program intersection with the Social Democrats," Nečas said. "Their policies are irresponsibly populist; thus cooperation with them is practically excluded."

Nečas takes on ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek in a final televised debate May 27. The pair squared off in a previous debate May 23, producing rather unspectacular results that prompted one Czech-language daily to call the showdown "boring."

But the ODS anointed Nečas with the hope that he could stabilize the party, not generate excitement. Whether the leadership change will serve the party well remains to be seen, but few seem to think it will have much effect.

"The reason for replacing Topolánek with Nečas was unfortunately only hysterical fear by the ODS about the election results," said political analyst Bohumil Doležal, a former aide to President Václav Klaus when he was prime minister. "With Topolánek, they would not have set the world on fire, but, without him, it will only be worse."

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com