Czech Republic now seems firmly en route to authoritarian rule
In spite of his corruption scandals, oligarch Andrej Babiš now enjoys unprecedented popularity in the Czech RepublicFearing the growth in popularity of his deputy and his Finance Minister, the powerful oligarch Andrej Babiš, the Czech Social Democratic Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka brought about a political crisis in his country, when he accused Babiš, his coalition partner, of unethical financial transactions and forced him to leave his post of Finance Secretary (Babiš has had himself replaced by a stooge). Most commentators regarded Sobotka's action as hypocritical and risky. If Babiš is such a shady character (which he is), why did the Social Democrats happily work with him in a coalition government for three years? Luckily for the Social Democratic PM Sobotka, the situation for Babiš then became extremely complicated when recordings were published in which he brutally and in a vulgar fashion attacked his coalition partners and discussed with a journalist from a major newspaper he owns when (not) to publish various compromising material related to his political opponents. Temporarily, it looked that PM Sobotka and the Social Democrats were winning over Babiš.Not so.