Pandemic response credit-claiming and blame-avoidance in Czechia

Abstract

Abstract Credit claiming led in Czechia during the first wave to centralization and during the summer to decentralization. During the second wave, blame-avoidance led again to centralization. First Wave: Similar to other Central and Eastern European countries, Czechia's number of cases and deaths per capita during the first wave were some of the lowest in Europe. The Czech Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš (of the centrist populist ANO) was in a good position to take credit for these results. While this level of centralization of power attracted some criticism, the unprecedented context as well as the undeniable results of the timely intervention translated into genuine political credit. The government's measures enjoyed overwhelming popular support: an April survey found 76% of respondents saw them as “adequate” (and 16% as too lenient). Summer: The Czech government relaxed measures relatively quickly, precipitated by judicial challenges to the procedural aspects of lockdown measures. Thanks to the low prevalence of COVID-19 in the country, rapid reopening did not lead to dramatic increases in infections. Between June and September, there were virtually no restrictions in Czechia. Second wave: In September, the PM admitted the extent to which restrictions had been eased during the summer was a mistake, but explained his decisions by “societal demand” and prioritizing the economy. Explicit blame avoidance strategy through decentralization of responsibility between governments came only one year into the pandemic. The government obliged and, unconstitutionally, declared a new state of emergency (24). In one weekend, a year after total centralization of responsibility for the pandemic, regional governors (mostly belonging to opposition parties) were co-opted into the government's blame game that crossed party lines, ahead of the October 2021 parliamentary elections.