Unless Pres. Petr Pavel succumbs to pressure from the very media that have put him on a pedestal and that usually avoid mentioning his lapses, Czechs won't see a photograph like this one this weekend. It's from the parliamentary elections a year ago, but instead of voting in the municipal elections at the end of this week, Pavel will be motorbiking in Morocco. The presumptuousness with which Pavel skipped town just before the elections is similar to that of Donald Trump when he boasted in Jan. 2016 that he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody without losing any voters. Pavel, too, is challenging voters to accept him as he is, warts and all. Pavel had fought so hard to assert his authority to represent the country abroad when defense spending was the main issue at the Nato summit, but he's now relinquishing his authority to represent his country at home during an important event. It indicates that his priorities are guns first, motorcycles second and celebrating democracy third. And he can't claim this time that anyone is preventing him from exercising his duties.
FinalWord.by Erik Bestfinalword.cz |
 Source: Prague Castle Guns, motorbikes and elections (in that order)Mon, Oct 5, 2026 Unless Pres. Petr Pavel succumbs to pressure from the very media that have put him on a pedestal and that usually avoid mentioning his lapses, Czechs won't see a photograph like this one this weekend. It's from the parliamentary elections a year ago, but instead of voting in the municipal elections at the end of this week, Pavel will be motorbiking in Morocco. The presumptuousness with which Pavel skipped town just before the elections is similar to that of Donald Trump when he boasted in Jan. 2016 that he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody without losing any voters. Pavel, too, is challenging voters to accept him as he is, warts and all. Pavel had fought so hard to assert his authority to represent the country abroad when defense spending was the main issue at the Nato summit, but he's now relinquishing his authority to represent his country at home during an important event. It indicates that his priorities are guns first, motorcycles second and celebrating democracy third. And he can't claim this time that anyone is preventing him from exercising his duties. |