Czech president asks Civic Democrat leader to form government

Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Friday officially tasked right-wing Civic Democrat leader Petr Necas with forming the country’s next government. The president asked Mr. Necas to report back in two weeks on whether he is able to form a cabinet.

The outcome of last weekend’s general elections, which left the winning Social Democratic Party isolated with little chance of forming a stable government, has led the president to break with tradition in asking the leader of the second strongest party to try and form a centre-right cabinet.

The Civic Democratic party is holding talks with the conservative TOP 09 and the centrist Public Affairs party; they have 118 seats in the 200-strong lower house of Parliament. The parties have vowed to form a centre-right coalition to stabilize public finances, reform the country’s health and pensions systems, and curb corruption.