Too happy to play the second fiddle

Last January Mr Fico, still a prime minister then, vehemently announced the absolute impossibility of him - in the event, he would not be re-elected for another term - to become a parliament party leader for the opposition. Either the idea to be demoted from a prime minister to an ordinary opposition parliament member was too abhorring in his imagination, or it was a fake poker bluff, trying to play a populist card of being prince charming.

When taking his clumsy political record, Fico's credibility has never been his strongest ace to begin with. The proof of tasting the pudding came along with rather unexpected outcome of the elections, where his aggressive tone became a bit milder - turning into a wailing one, not being able to find the right posture as a losing candidate. 

While simultaneous elections in countries like the Netherlands and the Czech Republic showed usual political reactions, in case of loss, the leader takes his responsibility and hands in his demise, Mr Fico was not so much chivalrous to take that step. On the contrary, he changed his tactics and was "looking forward to form a fierce opposition to the future coalition government".

True is, that even as in Dzurinda's case, Slovakia is not having a habit that a losing prime minister leaves the political arena. Unlike it's 'Czech brother' has in that respect a slightly different political awareness (as can be concluded from the very fact that despite of huge scandals and corruption, Fico's popularity is nevertheless soaringly high). 

Changing his mind - or better put: not fulfilling his promises - is common practice with Mr Fico. He will cling at all costs to the velvet cushions of power and its perks that go with it. Yesterday, Mr Fico announced the outcome of his party's candidates' list for the various parliament committees, where his name is put forth as the deputy president of the parliament.

Seemingly a ridiculous demotion; why not right away the president and why only number 2? Well, there's something to it: Realistically, he will not stand a chance to compete for the number 1 seat, so the possibility for getting number 2 as an opposition party's nominee is almost certain. Why would he care? Fico needs one special thing to survive the upcoming years: immunity from criminal investigations, since his hands are far from clean. And for this, the bragging power hungry populist, vowing never to sit in parliament as an ordinary opposition member, suddenly is much too happy to play the second fiddle. For he knows what was wrong under his responsibility.

MS