The appeal of Andrej Babis for voters is built on the perception that he stands against established interests, a perception thanks in part to his appointment of authentic outsiders like Lukas Wagenknecht who was fired this week.



Privileged access to your money

This perception might be called the ‘Wagenknecht effect’ after the whistle-blowing auditor and former first deputy finance minister. Wagenknecht’s dismissal this week shatters the carefully cultivated image of Andrej Babis as an anti-establishment figure. The removal of such an honest and inquisitive man from the heart of government is a triumph for the establishment.

Wagenknecht’s interest in the value destructive decisions of publicly-controlled companies was most unwelcome and had to be discouraged. News that Wagenknecht will continue to sit on the supervisory board of CEZ is hardly encouraging: if he was prevented from holding the firm's management to account as a senior government minister, he is unlikely to be able to do so as a mere supervisory board member.

Justice minister Robert Pelikan's attempt to keep Wagenknecht on board by offering him the job of auditor at the justice ministry (which Wagenknecht has apparently turned down) is a sign of how lonely Pelikan himself is becoming. Like Wagenknecht, Pelikan is a troublemaker with a strong attachment to the public good. I suspect he is the next in line to be sacrificed by Babis.

Clearly things are getting back to normal and Babis, whose great fortune was and continues to be built on privileged access to public resources, is reverting to type. The Wagenknecht effect worked well for a time, fooling many into thinking that Babis acts for our good. No longer. The reality is that political power in the Czech Republic, though formally held by elected politicians, remains as firmly as ever in the hands of parasitic businessmen (and their nasty little lawyers). Babis has merely collapsed the distinction between the two.