Czech PM must step down after vote

THE GOVERNMENT of the Czech Republic lost a confidence vote in parliament last night and must step down, dealing an embarrassing blow to the country’s presidency of the European Union.

The centre-right coalition of prime minister Mirek Topolanek will remain in power until a new cabinet is appointed, probably only after Prague’s EU presidency ends on June 30th, but its defeat strips it of authority at an important time in Czech politics.

The government’s loss makes it less likely that parliament will approve the EU’s beleaguered Lisbon Treaty and give clearance for the United States to build a controversial missile defence radar near Prague.

It also leaves a lame-duck administration to host a key summit of EU and US leaders in April and planned top-level meetings between the EU, Russia and China.

Having failed in four previous attempts to topple the government, the opposition Social Democrats and Communists secured the necessary 101 votes in the 200-seat parliament with the help of defectors from Mr Topolanek’s Civic Democrat (ODS) party.

The Czech Republic has fared better than much of central Europe during the economic crisis, but its ODS-led government was fatally undermined by a series of scandals, most recently involving claims that a prime ministerial aide pressed a television station to bury an unflattering report about one of Mr Topolanek’s allies.

“Mr Prime Minister, do not try to create the impression that chaos would result from the fall of your government. It is your government that is in chaos,” Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said before the vote.

“The government is harming this country. It is neither capable of resolving the impact nor the cause of the crisis.”

Mr Topolanek said he would abide by the constitution and resign immediately, but there is no limit to how long he and his cabinet can remain in office before the appointment of replacements.

He has said previously that he would favour early elections in the summer if he lost the confidence vote, while the opposition has called for a non-aligned “government of experts” to guide the country through to elections this autumn or next spring.

Analysts expect the Lisbon Treaty to meet strong opposition in the Czech upper house where some deeply Eurosceptic ODS members will now feel no obligation to toe the more moderate line espoused by Mr Topolanek.