Nečas opposes grand coalition

The provisory head of the Civic Democratic Party, Petr Nečas, says he is resolutely opposed to the idea of a grand coalition, like the one formed between his party and the centre-left Social Democrats in 1998. Speaking to TV Prima on Sunday morning, the party’s election leader also parried a number of questions regarding the situation within his party after last week’s shake up, saying that his personal feelings on how it was resolved were irrelevant. While praising the decision of chairman Mirek Topolánek to withdraw from the electoral ballot, he reiterated his intent to focus on the upcoming elections and not on the superficialities of Mr Topolánek’s further impact on the party’s chances. Petr Nečas assumed the role of election leader in the main centre-right party on Thursday, when its executive council voted that Mr Topolánek should step down after having made controversial statements about minorities.