PM, other politicians, react to president’s vulgar language in live broadcast

Monday saw further reaction to the president’s live broadcast a day earlier, in which he used unusually vulgar terminology to explain the name of activist group Pussy Riot, who he heavily criticised. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in a message that Mr Zeman was hurting the reputation of his office, and was setting a very poor example both at home and abroad. The head of TOP 09, Karel Schwarzenberg, who was mentioned in the broadcast by the president, sent a barb of his own against Mr Zeman on Monday, suggesting that worse than bad language was the president’s approach to China on a recent visit. Sunday’s programme, the only time that a Czech head-of-state has used such language in a live interview, will be assessed by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting.

Author: Jan Velinger