Czech cabinet wins confidence vote

The new Czech cabinet of Prime Minister Mr Stanislav Gross won a parliamentary vote of confidence tonight, gaining a mandate …

The new Czech cabinet of Prime Minister Mr Stanislav Gross won a parliamentary vote of confidence tonight, gaining a mandate to govern until the 2006 election.

The tight 101-99 victory in the 200-seat lower house ends a two-month political crisis sparked by the resignation of the previous administration in June due to a poor showing in the European Parliament election.

The new cabinet is formed by the same three parties as the previous one - the left-wing Social Democrats and two centre-right partners - and is expected to continue moderate fiscal reforms aimed at adopting the euro by 2010.