A course on taking over the moderation of a discussion show by a guest.
Sunday's game by TV Prima editor Terezie Tománková was an example of how it is possible to have a designated role stolen from the TV screen. The guest became a presenter and the editor became a chairwoman. A formulation like, "Madam Editor, let's try to think logically." or "You know what's interesting?" or "The structures that run this country are behind this." were the leitmotif of the debate, in which the current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic was the obvious leader. The interview was not really an interview at all. The owner of Agrofert skillfully diverted the language to where he wanted it to be and demonstrated an obvious talent for manoeuvring with half-truths, unclear statements, incomplete graphs and colourful highlighted texts. The discipline of speech-hopping had a clear loser - the original presenter. The visibly pre-election rhetoric appealing to potential voter groups of women and pensioners was persuasive, as was the implied criticism of the Social Democratic Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. The national investment plan with a contemplated budget of eight trillion crowns also had its moment. The Building Act has acquired the label of a badly communicated good idea. "Let's agree on how to shorten the construction procedure", came from the Prime Minister and former Finance Minister. The intractable issue involving many participants in the construction market is a sensitive one, and a pragmatic formulation that brings a wider range of co-decision makers into play on the final form of the law is in order. The foreign policy questions, then, were clearly a relaxing part of the interview. The head of the ANO movement enjoys talking about the Visegrad Four and likes to stress his numerous contacts with foreign politicians, including exotic ones. The concept of the answers is folksy and understandable to the average viewer. It includes criticism of the European Union's foreign policy and, in a moderate way, of the US decision to liquidate the Iranian Kassim Suleimani. And the conclusion of the interview? The Czech Republic has a great budget, we have wonderful people, we are one of the safest countries, there will be no crisis, we have successful doctors, ministers do not grow on trees, pensions will grow and we can be optimistic. These last statements were symbolically the answer to one of the few questions that was successfully asked. Namely, what has gone wrong for the Prime Minister over the past term and whether he knows of anything that merits self-reflection.