He has been the dominant force in Czech politics since the 1989 fall of communism. A Former Finance minister, two-time Prime Minister and most recently the powerful chairman of the lower house of the Czech parliament, he launched the country on the path of economic transformation, engineered the peaceful break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1992, and survived repeated charges of corruption and botching the country’s privatization process.
Now Vaclav Klaus, 60, is back in the thick of politics with a campaign to regain the post of Prime Minister he last held in 1997, when a political donations scandal caused his downfall and almost landed one of his deputies in jail. How he and his party, the conservative Civic Democrats (ODS), fare in the June 14-15 parliamentary elections will have a significant impact on the Czech Republic’s admission into the European Union. Klaus, a devotee of the conservatism of Margaret Thatcher, doesn’t oppose entry but resists what he calls the Union’s socializing tendencies and federalism. Also at stake is who succeeds the increasingly frail Vaclav Havel when he steps down as President early next year — with Klaus himself a possible candidate. Klaus’ chance for a comeback seemed briefly in jeopardy because of the May 28 surprise resignation of Jan Kasl, a popular Prague mayor, who accused the ODS of being “a party of demagogues and rogues” and alleged it was unwilling to fight corruption. But after a series of combative campaign swings through the country’s grimy, post-industrial north, Klaus seemed back in winning form — at least according to polls by the Center for Empirical Research (STEM), which showed him ahead of his nearest rival, the Social Democrats, throughout most of last week.
But winning the elections may prove only half the battle. To form a viable government Klaus, still a deeply divisive figure, will need coalition partners — and none appear willing to step forward. “He is loved by his supporters, and hated by opponents. There is virtually no one in between,” says Jan Hartl, director of STEM. “He’s almost become a national obsession.”
Those who love Klaus are often unquestioning in their devotion. “He is the best thing that happened to this country since the fall of communism,” says Eva Dedkova, a 58-year-old grade school teacher, after shaking Klaus’ hand at a recent political rally. “I am not washing my hand.” Says Jonathan Stein, an independent political analyst in Prague: “When people trust a charismatic personality, that person becomes godlike and can do no wrong. This is clearly the case with Klaus.” But Czechs are pragmatic too, and that — plus the lack of attractive alternatives — is working in Klaus’ favor. “People are not fooling themselves when it comes to the human, ethical and moral qualities of their politicians,” Hartl says. “Over 80% think politics is messy and politicians are in it mainly for money and influence. Since this cannot be changed, they at least demand that their politicians be efficient, hard-working professionals. Klaus is that.”
Those who hate Klaus, hate him fervently. “He is just a pompous pretender,” says Anna Arazimova, a 61-year-old retired nurse, referring to Klaus’ legendary arrogance, the stuff of countless jokes. Goes one: “What is the difference between Klaus and God? God doesn’t think he’s Klaus.” But Arazimova also dislikes the “professor,” as he likes to be addressed, for more substantial reasons. She blames him, for example, for a three-year recession that hit the country in the second half of the 1990s and for the robber-baron capitalism that thrived under his leadership.
In fact, divisions between the two camps run so deep that one of the few things they can agree on is Klaus’ phenomenal staying power, which was put to a major test during the 1997 scandal that disgraced him personally and slashed the popularity of his party to single digits. Although Klaus lost the 1998 parliamentary elections to the Social Demo-crats, he managed to remain a dominant political presence by supporting their minority government in exchange for broad political concessions, including the parliamentary chairmanship, his job for the past four years. In order to deflect the damaging allegations of the outgoing mayor, he lambasted his departure as “irresponsible” and said he “should above all speak about his total failure as a human being, about his failure to manage Prague city hall, about his failure to attract to his side those with whom he must live and cooperate.” Such a confrontational style — often coupled with unapologetic populism — has worked well for Klaus so far. But is it viable over a long term? Hartl thinks not. “He creates many enemies, and he may eventually find himself alone.” It is now up to the voters to decide whether Hartl is right.
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