Fair is fair: Petr Pavel won the presidential election two years ago. This year, politicians should watch out for his parachute jumps.
During his term, Petr Pavel showed us a number of innovations in state representation that we did not see with his predecessor. We can count here the measured exercise of function or a penchant for adrenaline sports. However, the president did not show much on the political playground. The test of the political role of president will come in the fall. Reality will show whether he will step back and let political parties lead or whether he would approach the beloved tradition of his predecessors and become a key player in government formation.
The former paragon and general jumped out of an airplane with a parachute regardless of his presidential position, occasionally rides a motorcycle, and sometimes lets himself be taken as a passenger in an aerobatic plane. Typically, country presidents do not expose themselves to dangerous situations because their indisposition can have consequences for the running of the country.
In the way Petr Pavel behaves as a top representative of the state, we see a touch of originality. Recall the raised sweater or the trip in economy class to the funeral of Elizabeth II. His three predecessors in office were of a different type. Václav Havel, Václav Klaus, and Miloš Zeman were typical salon intellectuals. Even though Havel was repeatedly imprisoned, in dissent, he belonged to the elite, which lived at a high level thanks to currency support from abroad.
Petr Pavel and his stellar moment
Klaus and Zeman operated in privileged positions of the legendary prognostic institute and their path of lifelong politicians after the Velvet Revolution wrote them significantly different presidential CVs than what Petr Pavel came with. He also held very high state positions in the military, but he was further from direct politics.
Now it seems that he did not overcome this distance too much. He profiles himself as a representative of the sporty style state, which impresses many people, but his approach to the lower levels of politics is significantly lukewarm. Occasionally he praises something or criticizes, but we did not see any legislative veto or a more pronounced effort to influence political life, whether towards the government or opposition.
The exception was an attempt to establish a round table on pension reform, with the aim to maintain a key law longer than one election term, when it is to affect people's lives in 30 years. The well-intentioned intention met resistance from the opposition leader, although his aides liked it.
There is not much to write about in this respect for two years. However, the president's shining moment is yet to come and it will be this year. Just like in neighbouring countries, the president plays a key role in commissioning the prime minister to form a government. It is a important principle of balancing in the power struggle in democratic republics.
President Pavel is not an automaton for the Prime Minister
"He should select a candidate who has the greatest chance of forming a government that will garner the support of the House. This could be the leader of the winning party, but it could also be someone else. The president will act in accordance with the Constitution. It gives him some leeway in certain situations, and he will definitely use this leeway... The president is not an automaton who must do whatever the prime minister wishes"
This week, among other things, President's domestic policy advisor Tomáš Lebeda announced for Novinky.cz.
What is one of the President's chief emissaries announcing to us in celebration of two years since his election? In a key political power (appointing a new government) Petr Pavel intends to play a significant role and follow in the well-trodden footsteps of his predecessors: from Václav Havel's embargo on communists, through the Topolánek's caretaker government held at the helm by Klaus's caprice, to a blank check for a government without support in parliament Jiří Rusnok and Andrej Babiš according to Zeman's notes.
The smoothest government formation was paradoxically enabled for Peter Fiala by the devil in bending the Constitution Milos Zeman. He was cornered and had to submit to a clear election result. According to current polls, there is a clear hegemony of the ANO movement in the voters' mood. If the prediction came true, which is in the stars, this time the prime ministerial candidate, whether it is Andrej Babis or Karel Havlicek, will not be waiting for a Zeman's blank check to form a government.
There is only one thing in the world that Petr Pavel prefers to fast motorcycles and parachuting. This is NATO and then, with a gap, the EU. The firm anchorage of the Czech Republic in these organizations is at the core of the policy of the president elected two years ago. The marketing slogan Enough! would happily say the members in these structures disguised communists who are preparing for a big comeback in the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura's SPD, and the boxy Motorists have a beer for them too.
If someone wants to join the government, they might run into the president in the fall like after jumping from an airplane without a parachute.
Sources: author's article, commentary, novinky.cz
