Czech Republic's government falls
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 4:31 PM ET
The Associated Press
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, centre, talks to reporters after the Chamber of Deputies voted no confidence in his centre-right government in Prague on Tuesday. (Rene Volfik/CTK/Associated Press)The Czech Republic's three-party coalition government collapsed Tuesday, narrowly losing a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
The motion to oust the government, partly over its handling of the economic crisis, was supported by 101 members of the 200-seat lower house.
The result means Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's cabinet must now resign.
It's not immediately clear who will be picked by President Vaclav Klaus to try to form a new coalition. If three attempts to form a government fail, early elections must be called.
The Czech Republic currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency and U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Prague next week for talks with Czech and European leaders.
"The government got what it deserved," said former prime minister Jiri Paroubek, who leads the opposition Social Democratic party.
Opposition legislators have become increasingly frustrated with Topolanek's administration as the effects of the global financial crisis hit the eastern European country.
Before the crisis, the Czech economy had been growing fast, but the country is expected to enter a recession this year. Annual industrial output fell 23.3 per cent in January.
The opposition said the government has acted too late and done too little — approving a stimulus package last month worth 70 billion koruna ($3.5 billion US), including measures for investments in ecology and infrastructure along with tax cuts and loan guarantees.
"It was not able to handle the affects of the economic crisis on the Czech economy," Paroubek said. But he added that he would not be against Topolanek's government staying in office until the end of the Czech term leading the EU presidency.
The European Union executive said it had "full trust" that the Czech Republic would be able to continue its duties until its term in the presidency ends June 30.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim's family asks for government help
- The family of a Toronto woman who died in pursuit of her lifelong dream to climb Mount Everest is asking the Canadian government to help pay the cost of bringing her body back to Canada. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Foreign investment review threshold rising to $1 billion
- The federal government is raising to $1 billion the amount of foreign money that can go into a Canadian company before the investment is reviewed. more »
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- Organ donation advocate Hèlène Campbell of Ottawa made her second appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, but her first since undergoing a double-lung transplant. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Man faces murder charge in 33-year-old missing boy case
- A former New York City convenience store clerk is now accused of murdering one of the first missing children to ever appear on a milk carton. more »
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- The difficulty, danger and expense of removing the bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone" mean most of the dead remain on the mountain as a stark reminder to other climbers of the risks. more »
- Neil Macdonald: How compromise became a dirty word in Washington
- As brinkmanship becomes the norm in this U.S. election year, some policy analysts, and even some long-serving Republicans, are calling out today's GOP for practising 'the new politics of extremism.' more »
- Tsunami motorcycle heading to Harley museum in Milwaukee
- The Harley-Davidson motorcycle that drifted across the Pacific Ocean after the tsunami last year will be put on display at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company announced Friday. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz Arrest, Helene Campbell & Facebook Flop May. 24, 2012 8:54 PM Three decades after a U.S. child Etan Patz disappeared, an arrest has finally been made.
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- New mom among dead in Aylmer triple stabbing
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Workers' EI history to affect claim under new rules
- Conservatives move again to have robocalls suits tossed
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- SpaceX capsule captured by Canadarm2
- Coffee prices get jolt in jittery economy
- Gatineau police to question man in multiple homicides
