Former Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek has quit as a candidate for the right-wing Civic Democrats, giving in to pressure from within his party two months ahead of a general election.
His resignation comes after a newspaper leaked private remarks by Mr Topolanek that were criticised as insensitive to the church, gays and Jews, and was a last-ditch attempt by rivals to revive the party's fortunes by ditching the gaffe-prone leader.
Mr Topolanek said he would consider whether to remain party chairman, and recommended former labour and social affairs minister Petr Necas as the party's election leader.
"The decision we made is pragmatic and correct," Mr Topolanek told reporters following a party leadership meeting after nearly eight years as party leader and a year after he lost the job of prime minister in a no-confidence vote.
The Civic Democrats have been lagging by up to 13 points behind the leftist Social Democrats in opinion polls ahead of the election, which pits the left's tax-and-spend policies against budget moderation plans by the right.
The country, run by a caretaker cabinet, needs a strong government to push through deep reforms to avoid an unsustainable budget gap, restart growth and bring the country closer to adoption of the euro.
No party is expected to win an outright majority in the vote, which is being held on May 28th and 29th. The Social Democrats, who promise generous welfare spending, appear likely to be the main force in the next administration.
Analysts said the Civic Democrats had suffered from Mr Topolanek's gaffes but it was far from clear whether changing a leader few weeks before the vote could help a party long burdened by infighting and a string of graft scandals.
"The conviction took root in the party that with Topolanek, it is headed for a defeat in the election ... but the party does not have a second strong leader like him," said Jindrich Sidlo, political commentator at Czech Television.
Voters defecting from the Civic Democrats have mostly not crossed to the left, but have boosted support for new small centrist and conservative parties such as TOP09 and Veci Verejne (Public Affairs).
Opinion polls show the possible election outcomes include a minority Social Democrat cabinet supported by the Communists, a Social Democrat coalition with centrist parties, or a grand coalition of the Social and Civic Democrats.
A centre-right coalition led by the Civic Democrats is a less likely possibility.
Reuters