Five of 13 Christian Democrat MPs quit party

Five MPs have quit the Christian Democrats, the fourth biggest grouping in the Czech lower house. Mirolsav Kalousek, Jan Husák, Ladislav Šustr, Vlasta Parkanová and Pavel Severa all said they were leaving the party on Tuesday. There are now eight MPs left in the deputies group of the Christian Democrats, which is headed by the party’s new leader Cyril Svoboda.

Mr Kalousek, who was finance minister in the last government, is planning to form a new centre-right party named TOP 09 to contest general elections in October. Meanwhile, the Czech News Agency reported that a number of Christian Democrat senators were also considering leaving the party.