Fairly: Petr Pavel climbed to the ceiling of St. Vitus after two years in office. In the fall he will have to show political muscles
Over the weekend, exactly two years passed since the inauguration of Petr Pavel as President of the Czech Republic. He entered office accompanied by great enthusiasm from his voters, signaling major changes after the aging Miloš Zeman. Indeed, we have seen these as the lifestyles of both men are really different. So far, Petr Pavel has also demonstrated a difference in the exercise of political powers, ones he hardly ever uses and lets the government act, unlike his predecessors. But the time for presidential politics has not yet come.
The renowned Czech general, now retired, assumed the presidential office two years ago after a sovereign victory in the elections. The bloody war in Ukraine likely suggested to many voters that a war veteran in the role of president, and simultaneously the commander-in-chief of the armed forces according to the Constitution, might not be inappropriate.
However, the president is only formally at the head of the army. In practice, he has only symbolic powers regarding the armed forces, such as presenting flags to individual units. We have gotten used to such vague statements in peaceful times, but times are changing, not only because Petr Pavel declared it at a meeting of the highest constitutional officials. We hear this from both the left and the right.
Petr Pavel in Times of American Chaos
"We face an unprecedentedly rapid dynamic development, both in foreign policy and in security policy in Europe and the world. We all perceive many contradictory statements, which would have seemed impossible to us a few weeks ago. We must react to such dynamic development. Given the change in attitudes of the United States on a number of important issues, we need to pay much more attention to our own abilities - both the Czech Republic, the European Union and the whole of Europe,"
Petr Pavel summarized the situation at a press conference after the meeting.
No one fully understands what the current US administration is trying to do. Just the confusing statements of Donald Trump and his coworkers alone suggest that they don't know themselves. But the USA has been the biggest security anchor since the Czech Republic joined NATO, and it's not possible to rely on uncontrolled chaos, no matter how well-intended it may be.
However, let's return to the symbolic powers of the Czech Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Czech Republic may not be a presidential republic, but not only Miloš Zeman showed that the president is definitely not just a representative figure on the political chessboard.
It is peculiar that the role of the president is interpreted this way so often. Looking back, the history tells the opposite. In the early 90s, when the Czech constitutional order was established, the role of the president entrusted to Václav Havel was crucial for upholding democratic principles, as a result of the Velvet Revolution. In other words, Václav Havel was the barrier to the entry of communists into the government, even though, until the last elections, the followers of the old regime enjoyed steady voter support.
Subsequently, Vaclav Klaus was able to keep Mirek Topolanek's government in power without the support of deputies, and likewise allowed the existence of the government of Jiri Rusnok and Andrej Babis by President Zeman. Depending on the constellation of stars, the president can be the most important element of the Czech political system. Reality has shown that he does not necessarily have to appoint the election winner or the owner of support among deputies (at least temporarily) as the prime minister.
Sports performance and power intrigues
Edvard Beneš found himself in the most critical situation as the commander of the armed forces in 1938, and his decision not to fight the Nazis was also not in accordance with the constitutional order, but rather with the power constellation of stars.
Over the past two years, Petr Pavel has shown courage when parachuting and currently also strong muscles when he climbed to the ceiling of St. Vitus Cathedral. A significant power part will open up for him after the autumn elections. Great support is indeed held by political forces, which certainly do not share his views on the need to strengthen the security of the Czech Republic.
We will see if he also shows strength in the sector of political intrigues. He does not talk about them in his speeches, but without them, it would be very difficult to achieve the set goals. Power constellations have not yet called him to similar acts, but he will hardly avoid them. So far, we would have to evaluate Peter Paul's presidency primarily based on sporting performances, so we'll see if it stays that way.
Sources: author's text, commentary, irozhlas.cz, x.com
