Coalition declaration signed by centre-right parties

The three centre and centre-right parties in the lower house signed a declaration Wednesday over their intent to form a coalition government. The announcement followed the first three- way meeting between them. Up till now there have only been two-way talks between the Civic Democrats, TOP 09 and Public Affairs.

Civic Democrat leader Petr Nečas said it could take a month, at a maximum two, for a final coalition deal to be sealed. Seven separate negotiating teams have been formed to try and thrash out a common line on various policies. Mr. Nečas has been summoned to report to President Václav Klaus on Thursday, fuelling speculation that he might then be tasked to form a government.

The latest steps follow the first appearance of cracks in the coalition project on Tuesday when the leader of the Public Affairs party, Radek John, warned that his party might not join a coalition with the Civic Democrats and TOP 09. He said it might only give it support in parliament if its specific demands were not met. The junior party in the possible coalition has highlighted its demands to combat corruption and tax and health reform as potential sticking points in a deal. John underlined that his party’s programme was much wider than just cutting the public debt.