Czech premier set to quit post in deal with rivals

CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek plans to step down today, opening the door for a new government to take power 10 weeks after elections produced parliamentary deadlock.

Mr Paroubek has suggested that his left-wing Social Democrats will support a minority government led by the election-winning Civic Democrats (ODS) if they agree to rule for only two years rather than the usual four, and then hold early elections.

He is also insisting that the ODS scrap key election promises and give his allies prominent posts in a parliament that is split down the middle between left- and right-wing parties.

"I am concentrating on an agreement in which they [the ODS] would hold positions in the government, and we would control positions in the lower house," said Mr Paroubek, who has refused to play second fiddle to the victorious ODS in post-election talks.

"I am giving priority to the option that some sort of framework be created to halve the election period - that means to two years.

"I think this would be reasonable given the election result, which was basically a draw," he added.

Mr Paroubek said he would resign at today's scheduled cabinet meeting after his ally Miloslav Vlcek was voted in as the new parliamentary speaker, an influential post that had to be filled to allow the old government to resign and a new one to take over.

President Vaclav Klaus is expected to appoint ODS leader Mirek Topolanek as the new premier, asking him to choose a new cabinet that must win a vote of approval in parliament within 30 days of being named.

Mr Topolanek has yet to find majority support for his planned cabinet, however, and admitted this week that there was "still a lot of work to be done".

He has held intense talks with Mr Paroubek to find a deal that would allow his government to win a confidence vote, but has said any arrangement must also be approved by two other parties in parliament, the centrist Christian Democrats and the Green Party.

Mr Topolanek made pre-election promises to overhaul public services, cut state spending and introduce a flat tax rate to attract foreign investors to the Czech Republic.

But Mr Paroubek denounced the plans as a risky social experiment that would hurt the poor, and he wants the tax reform scrapped as part of any government deal.