PM says crisis-management plan needs broad support

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, told journalists on Sunday that his government’s crisis-management plan was important enough for him to stake his government’s future on it. The prime minister said he was seeking support for the plan across the political spectrum and hoped to see it approved by a vast majority of deputies in both houses of Parliament. The stimulus plan, which was made with the help of the country’s top financial experts, envisages higher government spending on education and research, cutting firms’ social security costs when they employ new graduates, and contracting out the upkeep of the country’s infrastructure to private enterprises, among other things. The government is expected to approve the plan on Monday and the prime minister will present it to Parliament on Wednesday.