Only two of the 10 speakers of the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament, Miloš Zeman and Miloslav Vlček, were in the Communist Party. Of the four Czech presidents, only Zeman and Petr Pavel were Communists. Even among the four chief justices of the all-important Czech Constitutional Court, there is one, Zdeněk Kessler, who was never a KSČ member or candidate. Rudé právo, and later Právo, is different. It has always been run by a Communist or former Communist. Its current editor-in-chief, Petr Šabata, was an editorial writer for Mladá fronta during perestroika, when the official newspaper of the Socialist Youth Union was used by the reform wing of the Communist Party, StB and KGB to prepare the country for the changes taking place. Šabata is now serving a similar role at Právo. He's swaying public opinion in favor of the better society promised by the power structure opposing the current Czech government and is often using surveys from NMS, such as the one reported today, to do it. All the opposition is apparently missing for completing its perestroika of Czech society is a new Gorbachev.

Correction: We originally wrote that Pavel Šabata worked during perestroika for Rudé právo. Our apologies for the error.