Political leaders agree on who should lead caretaker cabinet

Czech political leaders have agreed on a prime minister designate who would lead the country until early elections. The candidate who received unanimous support from both the outgoing coalition and the opposition Social Democrats is Jan Fischer, head of the Czech Statistical Office. The 58-year-old economist should put together a caretaker government that would take over on May 9 and lead the country until early elections expected in October. Pending ratification, Fischer would be expected to replace the outgoing prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, whose cabinet was toppled last month midway through the Czech Republic's six-month European Union presidency. Jan Fischer, who became the head of the statistical office in 2003, is non-partisan but was a member of the Communist Party in 1980-1989.