Prague - Next week, President Milos Zeman will start to talk to the heads of parliamentary groups to convince them to vote for the technocratic government of Jiri Rusnok in the vote of confidence scheduled for the beginning of August. PM Rusnok was installed by Zeman himself.
The right-wing ODS and TOP 09 parties, which formed the previous government that resigned in June over an illegal spying scandal, have already made it clear that they will not vote for Rusnok's government.
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However, the left-wing CSSD, the largest leftist party in the Czech Republic, has not decided yet how to vote - and how to explain the decision to voters. This reluctance actually hides a deep internal split between the party's pro-Zeman wing and those who oppose the president's informal influence on the party.
CSSD's lawmaker Vitezslav Jandak told Insider earlier this week that Rusnok's cabinet was composed of "professionals" and that he personally felt "very close" to the government.
A common position of the party will be reached at a joint meeting of the party's leadership and parliamentary group scheduled for August 6 or 7, very shortly before the vote, said parliamentary group chairman Jeronym Tejc, adding that CSSD lawmakers will vote in unison in the parliament. Tejc, who will talk to Zeman next week on Monday 22 July, said that he prefers Rusnok's cabinet to a possible ODS government.
Pro-Zeman wing
Milos Zeman served as CSSD prime minister between 1998 and 2002, and unsuccessfully run in the presidential vote by the parliament in 2003. His failure was partially caused by the fact that even some lawmakers from his own party did not vote for him.
After the fiasco Zeman quit politics, but retained significant influence thanks to his allies and supporters in the CSSD. The same people now form the pro-presidential wing of the party. CSSD first deputy chairman Michal Hasek is considered an informal leader of the faction.
