News

President Vaclav Klaus officially appointed the centre-left government of Prime Minister Stanislav Gross on Wednesday, 39 days after the demise of the previous government led by Vladimir Spidla. Mr Gross has put together a coalition of the same three parties which were in government under his predecessor: the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union.

The coalition, with a majority of just one in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies, faces a vote of confidence on August 24.

Mr Gross, Europe's youngest prime minister at 34, said he believed his government would survive until the next general elections in 2006, adding that two years was plenty of time to undertake serious, responsible and courageous tasks.

The prime minister had promised fresh blood, though while eight ministers are under 40 years old, two thirds of his 18-member cabinet served under Mr Spidla in the last government.

Contrary to press reports, nobody has been either arrested or detained in connection with the organisation of the Czechtek techno music festival near a village in west Bohemia, a Pilsen police spokesperson said on Wednesday. On Monday night the police began breaking up the unauthorised festival, which began on Friday and attracted 15,000 people at its peak.

A 60-year-old man from Beroun in central Bohemia has become the first person to die after being bitten by an infected tick in the Czech Republic this year. Though the man died in the middle of May, the cause of death has just been confirmed. Almost 120 people were infected by ticks between the start of the year and August 1, the daily Pravo reported on Wednesday.

President Vaclav Klaus has been meeting with designated cabinet ministers before he officially appoints the new coalition government of Stanislav Gross on Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon Mr. Klaus met with Cyril Svoboda of the Christian Democratic Party who is to retain the post of foreign minister in the old-new cabinet, with Karel Kuhnl of the Freedom Union slated to become the next defence minister and with Frantisek Bublan, the designated head of the interior ministry. All parties later described the talks as friendly and informative. The swearing in ceremony is expected to take place at 11am on Wednesday. After its appointment the government has one month in which to ask Parliament for a vote of confidence. A likely date for the vote, already being discussed, is August 24th.

The new Cabinet, headed by Stanislav Gross, will have 18 ministers, including six newcomers. Twelve ministers of the outgoing government will remain in office. The three parties of the centre-left coalition government on Monday signed a coalition agreement outlining their priorities for the coming years. Prime Minister Stanislav Gross has expressed confidence in the new administration, predicting that in spite of its slim one-vote majority in Parliament the new Cabinet would remain in office until the next general elections in 2006.