President will enter into talks

President Klaus issued a statement on Tuesday saying he would meet with the leaders of all five parliamentary parties on Friday to ascertain how matters stood. The president said he was pleased that political leaders had launched a new round of intensive negotiations at the start of this week and said that he intended to do some negotiating of his own. He has invited the head of the Civic Democrats Mirek Topolanek and the Christian Democrats Jan Kasal to talks at Prague Castle on Wednesday. The president stressed the need for a government which would have no trouble winning the confidence of the lower house.