Opposition leader, PM, say deal on interim government still viable despite turnaround by Christian Democrats, Greens

A deal on an interim government and early elections remains viable despite a pullout by two smaller parties, the head of the opposition Social Democrats has said. Jiří Paroubek’s comments on Tuesday echoed an earlier statement by outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, whose ruling Civic Democrats, together with the Christian Democrats and the Greens, were defeated in a no-confidence vote last month. At the weekend, the coalition parties and the Social Democrats reached a preliminary agreement on a government of experts to assume office in May and lead the country to early elections. But on Monday the Christian Democrats cast doubt on the deal saying they wanted the outgoing cabinet to remain in power until the end of the Czech EU presidency. The Greens have called the deal “dead” and called for new negotiations.