Czech deputies topple govt in censure vote

A no-confidence motion by Czech deputies on Tuesday toppled the government led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency.

The official count showed the motion gained the 101 votes in the 200-seat lower chamber required to topple the centre-right government which now has to resign under the Czech constitution.

"I accept the vote and I will act in line with the constitution. Thank you," Topolanek said shortly after the result was announced.

The ruling coalition, made up of Topolanek's right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Greens, has 96 seats in the 200-seat lower house of parliament.

The Social Democrats and Communists have 97 seats and so needed the backing of at least four of the seven independent members to bring down the government.

The vote passed with the help of four deputies, formerly members of the ruling coalition, who had become independents.

The centre-right government, which survived past confidence votes thanks to these four votes, is now obliged to step down. But the Czech constitution does not set out a clear timetable.

Earlier, Topolanek said it would be "irresponsible" for the independents to back Tuesday's censure motion at a time of crisis and ruled out the idea of a caretaker government until the end of the Czech EU presidency.

Social Democrat chief Jiri Paroubek told the CT 24 news channel after the vote it was "natural that the government would stay until the end of the EU presidency" on June 30.

This latest motion followed charges that an adviser to Topolanek had tried to pressure state television into dropping a programme critical of a former Social Democratic deputy who now backs the coalition.

This is not the first time that a government holding the European Union's rotating six-month presidency has fallen.

The last time such a situation arose was in the first half of 1996 when Italy's centre-left coalition under Romano Prodi took over from Lamberto Dini's centre-right government following a legislative election.

And at the beginning of 1993 Denmark began its six-month EU presidency with the fall of Poul Schlueter's conservative government, which was replaced by the Social Democrats under Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.