The Social Democrats' New Clothes
It has been more than 100 days since Social Democrat Stanislav Gross was named prime minister, after an appalling showing by the Social Democrats in June's European elections led his predecessor, Vladimir Spidla to resign. By many accounts the new prime minister has consolidated his position rather well: not only did he manage to quell political differences within his own party that had threatened to tear the Social Democrats apart, but he has also launched what many - even grudging critics - see as a highly effective campaign aimed at stemming long-term haemorrhaging in the opinion polls.
Czechs have gotten used to the billboards by now - Europe's youngest leader, Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, beaming down at them on the highways, the byways, the marketplaces next to the slogan: "I mean it, sincerely. I'm a Social Democrat". At first subject to no small measure of ridicule and parodies on the internet, the campaign did succeed in one area: shifting the public focus away from the Social Democrats' arch-rival the right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party. Spray painters may have rewritten Gross' slogan a million times with their own versions stating "I'm a Social Idiot" or "I'm a Social Case" but the fact of the matter is the prime minister has succeeded in getting his party talked about - and talked about a lot.
Jan Culik is the editor of Britske Listy, an internet daily focused on issues in the Czech Republic - he admits that Mr Gross' campaign has somewhat swept the rug out from under traditional rivals, the Civic Democrats, forcing them to go on the offensive perhaps more aggressively than previously planned. But, he says the campaign has signalled a worrying development: the defeat of substance by style.
"Here we have a new style in Czech politics. Many people reacted in shock to this billboard campaign "Myslim to uprimne" - "I really mean it", with his fresh-faced portrait. Um, that seems absolutely to empty politics of any meaning. Rather than issues, or rather than focusing on problems that really matter to people, we will just have PR and advertising. The worrying thing is that people might fall for it."
In short, some say Mr Gross has begun pandering to the lowest common denominator for political gain. But other parties seem to be doing the same.
The opposition Civic Democrats reacted by declaring "total war" this week on Mr Gross' party in an effort to wrestle back the limelight. They are nicknaming Mr Gross's new team the "Grosstapo" and have come out with some sweeping claims that he is taking the country back to the dark days before 1989. This reaction could well be overkill, given the modest scale of the Social Democrats' recent recovery. By comparison, the Civic Democrats are still riding high in the polls: cruising on a cushion of popularity: 31 percent in the polls, compared to the Social Democrats 16, if one recent poll is to be believed.
Whether or not there is deeper substance to Mr Gross' new campaign remains to be seen. But one thing does seem certain: even voters attracted to the new campaign by the youth and energy of the new prime minister, will eventually seek answers to the more serious issues facing the Czech Republic, issues that are by no means only skin-deep.
