Foreign Correspondence

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Czech interim government likely to replace prime minister during EU term
01.04.09 13:15

Rival Czech parties agreed to form jointly an interim government that is likely to replace acting
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's cabinet at the helm of the European Union, reported dpa.

The interim government of experts, which would not be led by Topolanek, should
take over in several weeks, local reports said Wednesday citing party leaders.

Topolanek said after the meeting that his outgoing cabinet would stay
in "through the whole of April," the Czech news agency CTK reported.

The Czech Republic presides over the European Union until June 30. Topolanek's centre-right government has
ruled as a caretaker since stepping down on March 26, following a lost vote of confidence two days earlier.

In a late meeting on Tuesday, leaders of the three parties in Topolanek's outgoing
coalition and chief opposition Social Democrats agreed that the interim cabinet
would rule until a new government is sworn in as a result of early elections.

Social Democratic leader Jiri Paroubek told Czech Television that
the leaders would reach a deal on the next premier by the week's end.

The government parties - Topolanek's Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, the Greens -
and Paroubek's Social Democrats are to split nominations for interim cabinet's ministries.

Topolanek and his bitter foe Paroubek settled on holding the snap elections in mid-
October, a compromise between Topolanek's wish to rush to the polls and Paroubek's
intention to delay them. The regular general elections were planned for mid-2010.

The deal is a concession on Topolanek's part. The acting premier initially
insisted on completing his term in EU's chair and taking the country to the snap polls.

But he also indicated that he would prefer making a deal with the Social Democrats, who ousted him from power
over domestic squabbles, to a cabinet imposed on the political parties by another enemy, President Vaclav Klaus.

"Political realism triumphed," Paroubek said in the television interview.

Klaus is to appoint the new premier. He said he would authorize whomever secures an absolute majority
of 101 votes in the 200-seat lower house, a condition that required a deal between Topolanek and Paroubek.

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