Civic Democrats amenable to talks

The Civic Democratic Party has said that it finds the president's proposal acceptable on condition that the interim head of the lower house would not in any way try to influence the choice of prime minister. Mr. Topolanek, who is most likely to be appointed prime minister designate, said that the mandate of the new Czech government should exceed 2009, when the Czech Republic will preside over the European Union. A shorter term in office would be meaningless, he said. The Social Democrats have indicated that they would be ready to support a minority Civic Democrat government that would include both politicians and experts. There is still controversy between the two parties over who would pick the experts.