Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has fought plenty of battles to preserve his party's unity in recent months. Now he can breathe a sigh of relief. The former industry and trade minister Jiri Rusnok, whom he clearly considered the biggest trouble maker within the Social Democratic Party has vacated his parliament post - and the political arena.
Prime Minister Spidla has been doing battle on several fronts - and for a while it seemed that his strongest adversary was far off in the Moravian highlands - the former prime minister Milos Zeman. However time showed that a man closer to home and active in politics was the greater threat. And following a blatant breach of party discipline over the presidential elections, thanks to which opposition candidate Vaclav Klaus was elected president, the antagonism between the prime minister and then -trade and industry minister Jiri Rusnok was out in the open. Mr. Rusnok was dismissed from his government post on the grounds of "poor communication". He put up a brief fight, running against the prime minister for the party's top post at its March conference. But Mr. Spidla reasserted his authority, a development which temporarily pacified opponents within the party. Re-elected as party-chairman, Mr. Spidla had the upper hand, but as a parliament deputy Jiri Rusnok remained a threat.
Jiri Rusnok, photo: CTK
With the government's razor-sharp one-vote majority in the Lower House he could make trouble simply by failing to show up. In a no-win situation, he decided to resign, a move almost unheard of in Czech politics. "I was not willing to shoulder the blame for the government's failings," Mr. Rusnok told newsmen. As a capable economist Mr. Rusnok will do very well for himself in the private sector. And the ball is now in the prime minister's court. Mr. Rusnok is convinced that the power struggles within the party will continue - predicting that the coalition will fall apart within a year. "There's uncertainty within the party because it lacks direction - and where there's uncertainty there will always be power struggles" Mr. Rusnok said. At the party conference in March, Vladimir Spidla won by promising change .It will now be up to him to deliver on his promises. Because even with Mr. Rusnok gone, there are still plenty of opponents within his party waiting for a chance to assert themselves.
