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The chairman of the opposition Civic Democrats Mirek Topolanek has said that the state-controlled landline operator Cesky Telecom should be privatised through stock-market floatation. According to Mr Topolanek the opposition has no influence on the methods of privatisation of Cesky Telecom. Prime Minister Gross said at the weekend that the government should decide on the sale of Cesky Telecom as soon as possible. Tuesday is the closing date for binding bids. Still taking part are the telecommunication companies Swisscom, Belgacom, and Telefonica of Spain, along with the financial consortium Blackstone/CVC/Provident, which has partnered with France Telecom.

But, Mr Gross' re-election as chairman of the Social Democratic Party has left the future of the governing coalition in doubt: coalition partners, the Christian Democrats, had called for the prime minister's resignation over the last month, saying they would pull out of the government unless the prime minister accepted responsibility for a recent property scandal.

There has been no final decision by the Christian Democrats yet, however they have made it clear when talks between the two political parties reconvene they will push for either Mr Gross to step down, or for early elections, as a condition for holding the coalition together. Christian Democrat leader Miroslav Kalousek has said the two sides should meet within a matter of days. The prime minister, meanwhile, indicated the ball is now very much in the Christian Democrats' court; he would prefer the government to continue in its present form until national elections in 2006.

A slim majority of delegates at the Social Democratic Party's congress in Brno, has re-elected Prime Minister Stanislav Gross as head of the Social Democrats. On Saturday Mr Gross defeated lone rival Zdenek Skromach by a total of 53 percent of the vote - a number of delegates abstained. Following his victory Mr Gross said he accepted responsibility for his party in the next national elections, in 15 months' time.

The popularity of the current party chairman, Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, is at an all-time low of 19 percent, following weeks of strong criticism over alleged irregularities in his family's personal finances, including how he bought a luxury Prague apartment several years ago, as his official salary was insufficient to have funded the purchase. If Stanislav Gross is not confirmed as party chairman, it could mean the eventual collapse of his Social Democrat-led coalition government. His main rival for the chairmanship is the current Labour Minister, Zdenek Skromach.