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The outgoing prime minister and Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek has said that his party has definitively rejected the centre-right coalition of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Greens. The party has called on the Civic Democrats to seek another solution which would guarantee majority support in parliament. Besides, the Social Democrats still want their member to occupy the post of the lower house speaker. On Wednesday afternoon, the party proposed MP Lubomir Zaoralek as their candidate for the post. The centre-right coalition has decided not to field a candidate for Friday's election when the lower house will attempt for the third time to elect a new chairman, six weeks after the general election.

Should the lower house fail to elect a speaker in the near future, the Senate, the upper house of the Czech Parliament, will step in and call for early elections, its chairman warned on Tuesday. Speaking to journalists, Civic Democrat Premysl Sobotka said his party's senators proposed to hold a meeting next month at which the dissolution of the lower chamber will be discussed.

More Czech nationals have left Lebanon amid Israel's continuing military operation against the country. The foreign ministry has said the group should arrive in Prague on Wednesday night. The ministry at the weekend called on Czech citizens in Lebanon to report to the Czech embassy in Beirut and leave the country. According to estimates, several dozen Czechs remain in Lebanon.

A poll carried out by the Median agency for the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily suggests 83 percent of Czechs are opposed to the existence of a US missile defence site in the Czech Republic. In reaction to the poll, the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic, William Cabaniss, said the construction of such a base in the Czech Republic was a controversial topic for the country's citizens but public opinion was influenced by a lack of information.

On Tuesday, experts from the US Missile Defense Agency began a mission to the Czech Republic to discuss the possible creation of a strategic missile defence site. The delegation is due to stay in the Czech Republic until next Tuesday and will visit three possible sites to examine whether they are suitable. Two other Eastern European countries, Poland and Hungary, are also being considered as possible sites.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrats, who won the second most votes during the general elections, say a party member will only stand for lower house speaker if he or she is the sole candidate for the post. Party leader and outgoing prime minister Jiri Paroubek also said on Tuesday that the Social Democrat candidate should have unconditional support in Parliament.

Mr Paroubek was referring to last week's offer by the opposition to support a Social Democrat under the condition that he or she pledges to consult all five parliamentary parties before appointing a prime minister, should two attempts at forming a government fail.