Analysis
Politics
Unlocked
Fico’s Government Of Revenge and Revision
30 November 2023
Post-1989 property transfers gave way to the new generation of industrialists accumulating immense wealth and influence over Czech politics. The green transformation of the Czech energy sector is repeating the same mistakes of the late 20th century when business and politics was hard to separate.
Many commentators are referring to Czechia’s general election in October as the most important vote the country will have since the end of the communist era in November 1989 with implications for all sectors including energy.
Naturally, many of these voices are pointing to the populist figure of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who together with the country’s pro-Russian President Miloš Zeman, has come to epitomise Czech populism and democratic backsliding.
Unlike in the case of Hungary or Poland, where illiberal tendencies are identified primarily with the large parties of Fidesz and Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) and their grip on power in the two countries, Czech populist politics does not have an uncontested hegemonic force.