Civic Democrats confirm new election leader

The Civic Democrats have officially charged Petr Nečas with heading the party until the next party conference to be held after the May general elections. At a meeting of the party’s executive council on Tuesday, the former party leader Mírek Topolánek failed to have two other senior members of the party, election campaign manager Ivan Langer and Prague mayor Pavel Bém, removed from the party’s list of candidates. Both have received negative publicity in connection with possible links to organized crime. Mr. Langer said on Tuesday that the party’s difficult pre-election period had ended and that a hot new election campaign would start this Thursday. Mr. Topolánek was forced to step down from his post in March, after he alienated party members with scandalous remarks made during an interview.