Bratislava, June 6 (CTK) – The hard-core Communists have regained power in the Czech Republic and they co-decide on what the ANO government of Andrej Babis is doing, Slovak daily Dennik N writes today.
It comments on the formation of Babis’s new minority cabinet of ANO and the Social Democrats (CSSD) with support of the Communists (KSCM) after his first ANO minority government lost a confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies and resigned in January.
“One can simply say that the party that openly avows the totalitarian rule from the period before November 1989 (fall of Communism) has returned to power in the Czech Republic after almost 30 years. No matter whether a formal coalition of ANO and the CSSD is formed, Babis depends on the Communists in the case of any further developments except for early elections. And the Communists are trying to profit from this as much as possible,” the paper writes.
By its support for the nascent government coalition, the KSCM will achieve its goal to satisfy its members and supporters.
“The Communists do not mind at all that for a portion of power, they support a government of the most notorious and merciless capitalist in the country, the mere embodiment of plutocracy of which they are warning,” the paper’s commentator writes.
The KSCM has scored a success from its point of view in the issue of the taxation of the church restitutions, concerning the return of the property confiscated by the Communist regime to the churches and financial compensation for what cannot be returned.
“For the Communists, this topic is crucial not only politically – the hatred of churches belongs to the grounds of their ideology and is a significant tool to mobilise voters, but the church restitution taxation is also a tool of their own historical rehabilitation,” the daily writes.
It says that since the beginning, the Communists have demanded they have influence on the government lineup and important posts in state administration, have their people in the management of state companies and be able to push through their own demands through the government programme.
Dennik N also points to support of the ultra-right anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) for Babis’s government.
“One can rely on the SPD to vote for the bills and personnel changes that are important to Babis, it helps this oligarch in his purges in state administration, and in his taking over the institutions to control power,” the daily writes.
The SPD politicians received posts in the Chamber of Deputies’ leadership for their support for Babis. The SPD is indirectly profiting from the weakening of the democratic system and the rule of law under Babis’s leadership. With the aid of the SPD, Babis might exert pressure on the CSSD as his official coalition partner and outvote it, Dennik N writes.