Mirek Topolánek said a year ago that ‘Marek is deciding if to stay in this country, he is so disgusted by local conditions.’ He left it too late.



Marek Dalík, the lobbyist and sidekick of Mirek Topolánek, was arrested on Sunday night as he was leaving an Asian fusion restaurant in Prague called SaSaZu. He stands accused of demanding a very large sum of money for lubricating the wheels of an armoured car deal called Pandur.

It is said that Dalík only ever had one business plan and that was Mirek Topolánek himself. So far, Topolánek, who, like so many failed politicians in this city, works as a lobbyist for EPH and ČEZ, has limited his reaction to the news of Marek's incarceration to a terse two words: “Nevím. Nemám.” I expected a more robust defence. No doubt that is to come.

You do not need to believe rumours about Dalík being Topolánek’s bastard child to explain their deep attachment to each other.

An accountant would call it ‘goodwill’. You and I would call it naked greed.

Judging by the fees Dalík was able to demand for his ‘intermediary’ services, 18 million EUR in the Pandur case according to the police, and by the Prague real estate he has accumulated in recent years, the intangible goodwill that the former prime minister bestowed upon him became a highly bankable asset. And assuming Marek did not keep all his fees for himself, who else would he have shared them with if not Mirek?

Mirek Topolánek worried aloud a few months ago that ‘Marek is deciding if to stay in this country, he is so disgusted by the local conditions.’

Well, that window just closed. Local conditions have caught up with him at last.

The wicked Ms Bradáčová, the state prosecutor responsible for these conditions that so disgust Mirek's Marek, has decided that Marek will stay put, perhaps for as long as ten years if she can convince a court of law that he is a common swindler who pimped for a prime minister.