CZECH REP: Czech Prime Minister Mr Vladimir Spidla put his government on the line yesterday, announcing a confidence vote in parliament after a poor showing by the ruling coalition's candidate in last week's presidential election.
The move is seen as risky as his three-party, centre-left coalition holds only a one-vote majority in the 200-seat lower house, and has failed in some key votes since it took office in mid-2002.
By law, the confidence vote must take place within the next 14 days. The government needs a simple majority of those present to win the vote.
"This is not a question of political suicide," Mr Spidla told journalists at a hastily called news conference. "The way the presidential vote was carried out raises doubts about whether this government has the confidence of the lower house and there are important decisions ahead of us," he said.
The move to seek a vote of confidence comes after opposition candidate Mr Vaclav Klaus won a five-year presidential term on Friday over government candidate Mr Jan Sokol.
The defeat was a major blow to Mr Spidla's coalition government, which came to power last June vowing to take the country into the European Union in May 2004.
The coalition comprises the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, and holds 101 seats in the lower house of parliament.
The government has just begun a campaign urging support for joining the EU in a referendum to be held in June. It also needs to push through fiscal reforms to rein in a burgeoning deficit of 6.3 per cent of GDP this year.
In September, Mr Hana Marvanova, a Freedom Union member of parliament, split with the government and helped the opposition kill a tax hike to raise funds to cover damages from August floods.
The defeat sparked a government crisis that threatened to topple Mr Spidla. Mr Marvanova was forced to step down as Freedom Union leader but remains an MP for the party.