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Behind the scenes, the Soviets were doing some hoisting of their own, as they elevated their men to power. They are prudently not promoting for the new posts outright Stalinists from the Novotný regime; instead, they prefer respectable, obedient bureaucrats. In Prague's current political argot, these men are called "the realists." The new federal Premier, for example, is Oldřich Černík, who was also Premier during the Dubček period but has since shown his willingness to cooperate with the Soviet occupiers.
Many of the other appointees have no previous political experience. Ján Marko, the new Foreign Minister, was the chief of the Slovak Commission for Technology. At the provincial level, the new Czech Premier, Stanislav Razl, is a former minister of the chemical industry, and the Slovak Premier, Stefan Sadovský, is a former Dubček supporter who has apparently abandoned his earlier enthusiasm for liberalism in favor of realism.
The Last Hero. The predominance of realists in the new governments has only heightened the tension in Czechoslovakia over the fate of Josef Smrkovský, who, with Dubček's decline, remains the last hero toCzechoslovakia's disillusioned workers, students and intellectuals. An unrepentant liberal, Smrkovský lost his post as president of the National Assembly when that body was abolished to make way for the new legislature. In the new system, he temporarily holds the equivalent post of president of the federal parliament. At the behest of the Russians, the realists have started a campaign to take that post away from Smrkovský. The workers, including the 900,000 members of the metalworkers' union, have pledged to go out on strike if Smrkovský is not given the job—and thousands of students have made similar vows. The issue of the appointment will not be decided for another week or so, but Smrkovský's ouster just might fan the smoldering embers of discontent in Czechoslovakia into a blaze.