Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told the European Parliament yesterday that the collapse of his government on Tuesday would not affect his running of the EU presidency. His coalition fell after losing a parliamentary no-confidence vote over its handling of the economic crisis.
The lower house of parliament voted 101-96 to declare no confidence in the three-party coalition government after four lawmakers broke rank with their parties and voted with the opposition. Three legislators were absent.
It was the first time a government has been ousted by parliament since the country came into existence after the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia.
Tuesday’s vote was a huge embarrassment for Topolanek, coming just days before a planned visit by US President Barack Obama and midway through the Czech Republic’s six-month EU presidency.
Topolanek said he continues to believe the rest of the Czech six-month tenure will not be a lame-duck presidency, although he might resign after a planned trip to Brussels yesterday.
“I take the vote into account and will act according to the Constitution,” he said.
There has been no indication of whom Czech President Vaclav Klaus might choose to form a new Cabinet. If three attempts to form a government fail, early elections must be called.
Topolanek’s minority coalition took charge in January 2007, after months of difficult negotiations following 2006 general elections that resulted in no clear winner.
The government has struggled to resolve deep divisions within parliament over whether to allow components of a US missile defense shield on Czech territory, and whether to adopt the EU reform treaty to streamline decision-making in the bloc.
In recent months, opposition lawmakers also said they became frustrated with the government’s response to the global economic slowdown.
The opposition said the government acted too late and did too little — approving a stimulus package only last month worth 70 billion koruna (US$3.5 billion), including measures for investments in ecology and infrastructure along with tax cuts and loan guarantees.
“The government got what it deserved,” said former prime minister Jiri Paroubek, who leads the opposition Social Democratic party.
“It was not able to handle the effects of the economic crisis,” he said.
However, Paroubek said he was not against Topolanek’s government staying in office until the end of the Czech EU presidency term.
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