Fair is fair: President Pavel's speech. In the cold without a hat and sober without a mobile
For the third time, we were able to watch President Petr Pavel in his outdoor jacket on the outdoor area of Prague Castle on New Year's Day, which is his unique handwriting in the genre of presidential speeches. Since he did not want to torpedo the new government too much with which he will experience enough for all sorts of conflicts of interest, and a host of other provocations including a different international-political orientation, he rather focused on the everyday life of citizens. In this genre, Pavel, a man in his sixties, carries an unusual interest in young people, which is not common in politics.
Pavel's standing at the beginning of January, dressed only in a jacket in the courtyard of Prague Castle, almost seems like a play with visual effects, as it looks somewhat artificial here. As the introductory picture reveals, it was January, and the president happily stands in indoor clothes, unlike the cameramen in the wings.
A soldier has to endure a lot and this custom is probably Pavel's personal tribute to his military past as a paragon. He was also concise in his message to the newly established government. He intends to guard a certain value framework of Czech democracy, especially in security and international political issues.
The Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies and the leader of the coalition SPD in his New Year's speech clearly reminded that with the president he is definitely not tuned into the same note on this issue. We will see if he gets into a clash with the president similar to Filip Turek, whose appointment as minister Pavel refused without discussion. To this day, we do not know if this can officially be done according to the Constitution, but unofficially it was done by previous presidents.
If Okamura remains only provocative in speech without making any major political actions, as he has been doing for the last 13 years, he is in top politics, the whole conflict will probably remain only at the rhetorical level.
For a long time we asked ourselves whether Petr Pavel would just be a representative president, or a wreath layer, as it is commonly said. Although he would probably like it, after this year's elections he had to leave the comfort of the economy class he flew to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
If he took over the works like Miloš Zeman in top form, the new government certainly would not have sat yet. Assuming that Pavel does not hold completely identical political views with the coalition. Although this is not said outright, this difference can be observed as skiing on technical snow in the midst of a snow-free winter landscape.
"Let each of us lift our eyes from the extreme on social networks and look at the things around us more soberly and considerately, then we will see that we all long for very similar things. For decency, accessible health care, for quality schools or for a decent life,"
echoed in the speech of the president.
Sobering up is typical for the New Year's celebration and it's good that the president reminded us of the new broomstick of humanity. The world is beginning to teem with social network bans. With this revolutionary step, Australia came a few days ago for its juveniles, and the European Union issued a similar recommendation in its resolution.
All it takes is lifting our heads from our mobile phones maybe a bit more often than we are used to and than people require the administration of all mobile applications "facilitating" movement from public transport, through banking services to hunting discounts in supermarkets.
Over 6% of our population show signs of addiction to mobile phones. So in the Czech Republic, that's just under 653,000 inhabitants. Among young people, the percentage is significantly higher and the problem affects just under a quarter of them.
The Czech Republic is facing an epidemic of loneliness. Escaping into the world of mobile phones doesn't do much for mental health. However, according to the president, the state will not take care of everything, its citizens must also make an effort. When they grit their teeth, even in the January cold, they can cheerfully stand almost naked and without a hat, as the presidential New Year's message tells us.
Sources: author's text, commentary, CT 24, CTK, SeznamZpravy.cz
