Czech president may intervene in coalition row

CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech president Vaclav Klaus is preparing to intervene in a row between the country's two biggest parties that has paralysed political decision-making in the country since elections almost six weeks ago.

"The moment is approaching when it will be necessary for me to intervene in these negotiations," Mr Klaus said, after defeated prime minister Jiri Paroubek again rejected the offer of a coalition with the election-winning Civic Democrats.

The poll left parliament split down the middle, with the conservative Civic Democrats and potential partners the Greens and Christian Democrats taking 100 seats - the same amount as Mr Paroubek's Social Democrats and the Communist Party.

The bitter election campaign set the main parties at each others' throats: Mr Paroubek has threatened to sue both the Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek for accusing him of having links to the Prague mafia, and the head of the organised crime squad for suggesting that he had molested the young daughter of a friend.

Two members of the rival parties, meanwhile, brawled on stage at a usually sedate annual conference of dentists.

The Social Democrats and communists have twice blocked the election of the Civic Democrats' nomination for the post of parliamentary speaker, who must be in place for the old government to formally step down and the new one to take power.

Mr Paroubek has also rejected overtures from Mr Topolanek to share power in a four-party coalition, insisting that he would only contemplate backing a "cabinet of experts" comprising technocrats rather than politicians, or a minority Civic Democrat government, whose moves could easily be blocked by his supporters in parliament.

"The Social Democrats have shown that they do not want to leave the government, do not want to allow the formation of a new government and do not even want the post of parliamentary speaker," complained Mr Topolanek.

"The only thing the Social Democrats do want is to block post-election talks."

Mr Paroubek has suggested that the only way the Civic Democrats could coax him into a coalition is by dropping key campaign promises like a flat tax rate and plans to overhaul public services, which would tear the guts from the party's programme.

"The Social Democrats need to define whether they want to be in the opposition or in the government," said a frustrated Mr Topolanek.

"It's hard to make out what Paroubek wants."