CZECH REPUBLIC: The Czech prime minister has said he will not resign, thus heeding criticism from the president and his cabinet which voted to continue as the country searches for a way out of election stalemate.
Jiri Paroubek, a leftist Social Democrat, said last week he would step down on July 3rd following the June 2nd election in which the rightist Civic Democrats took the most votes but not a parliamentary majority.
Rightist president Vaclav Klaus has called Mr Paroubek's plan irresponsible given the stalemate in parliament.
The Civic Democrats and their two centrist allies control 100 seats, the same as the Social Democrats and far-left Communists.
"Ministers were of the opinion that it [ the resignation] would be a useless, theatrical gesture and instead to keep working," Mr Paroubek told a news conference.
Mr Klaus had said he would reject a resignation at this point.
Mr Paroubek's spokeswoman said the prime minister would meet Mr Klaus today.
Politicians have warned that many weeks of negotiations may be needed to resolve the key issue of lower house speaker.
Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek has built a coalition with two centrist partners, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party, but needs parliament to approve the government.
Last week the coalition could not muster even its own 100 votes to elect its candidate for speaker, showing how uncertain is its grip on power.
Mr Topolanek called for all-party talks and said he would propose the cancellation of the next attempt to elect a speaker, scheduled for Friday, unless agreement on who was to hold the post could be reached beforehand.
He said if the vote was held, the Civic Democrats would probably propose a candidate from one of their coalition partners in order to alleviate Social Democrat fears that his party was taking all the top positions.
The Social Democrats have been demanding the post for themselves, but have refused to support the centre-right cabinet in return.
Mr Paroubek has called for some form of agreement on the next government between only the two biggest parties, but the Civic Democrats have stuck to their coalition plan. - (Reuters)