President under fire for getting involved in campaigning

President Miloš Zeman has come under fire for getting actively involved in campaigning for October’s general elections. Social Democratic party leader Bohuslav Sobotka said in a televised debate on Sunday that it was unacceptable for the president to openly support his Citizens’ Rights Party-Zemanites on hundreds of billboards, allowing it to feed off his own election success. Meanwhile,TOP 09 deputy chair Miroslav Kalousek said Mr. Zeman had begun campaigning in the general elections when he appointed his close associates to the Rusnok cabinet and was now touring the regions to boost his party’s chances in the elections. Mr. Kalousek warned that the president was usurping more and more powers and was now the real leader of two left-wing parties on the Czech political scene – his own Zemanites and the Social Democrats, where he was gaining increasing influence.