The leader of a revolt against the chairman of the Social Democrats has
admitted to a secret meeting with President Miloš Zeman after previously
denying it took place. On Tuesday the party’s number two Michal Hašek
had repeated the assertion that the meeting never happened, only to do a
u-turn on Wednesday. Three other senior Social Democrats have also finally
admitted that the talks took place on Saturday night, hours after the
outcome of a general election became clear.
At the meeting, the president, a former leader of the Social Democrats, is
said to have called for the ousting of Bohuslav Sobotka as chairman in the
wake of disappointing election results; the Social Democrats came first
but
took fewer votes than expected. Mr. Hašek on Sunday instigated a revolt
against Mr. Sobotka. However, he has refused to quit and seems to be
gathering momentum in the power struggle.