Politicians react angrily to Zeman’s “Kalashnikov” statement on Sobotka

Politicians have reacted angrily to a statement by President Miloš Zeman regarding Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. Asked at a public meeting on Monday how his rival could be got rid of, Mr. Zeman said: “There is just one democratic option, free elections; the undemocratic option is a Kalashnikov.” Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, a member of Mr. Sobotka’s Social Democrats, tweeted that tasteless jokes about using weapons against state representatives merely poured oil on the fire. Another Social Democrat, Jiří Dienstbier, asked whether there were any limits to what the president would do. For his part, TOP 09 chief Miroslav Kalousek stated ironically that it had been statesman-like advice, particularly in a period of hysterical commando groups playing at being “patriotic militias”.