Progress on caretaker government

Czech political leaders have reported progress in talks on setting up a caretaker government which would rule the country until early elections planned for the autumn. Representatives of the ruling coalition and the opposition Social Democrats said following talks late on Friday that an agreement on the composition of the proposed cabinet could be ready by Sunday evening and would be presented to the president on Monday. The ruling parties and the opposition were forced to cooperate on producing a new government after President Klaus said that he would not consider naming a prime minister designate anyone who did not have majority support in the lower house. The alternative is that President Klaus himself would put together a transitional cabinet of his own choice. The caretaker cabinet now being compiled by the coalition and opposition parties is likely to consist of career diplomats and non-partisan experts.