President and PM discuss government over luncheon

The proposed centre-right government was high on the agenda of a New Years' luncheon between Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and President Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday. The president expressed reservations both with regard to its line up and the fact that the prime minister has not secured majority support for it in the lower house. Despite his critical stand, the president is bound by the constitution to appoint whatever government the prime minister proposes. The prime minister will then have thirty days in which to ask the lower house for a vote of confidence. The Czech Republic has been without a stable government since the last general elections ended in stalemate last June.