Klaus appoints new government

President Václav Klaus appointed the new Cabinet July 13, officially anointing a tripartite coalition - between the Civic Democrats (ODS), TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV) - as the next government.   

The coalition, which is led by the ODS's Petr Nečas as prime minister, must call for a confirmation vote in the Chamber of Deputies within 30 days. The three parties control 118 of the Chamber's 200 seats. It is the 11th government in the history of the independent Czech Republic.

"This is the sixth government I have named so far," said Klaus, who has been president since 2003. "I very much wish for this to be the last government I name."

The ODS controls six Cabinet positions, TOP 09 five and VV four. Of the 15 Cabinet posts, none are filled by women. Two Cabinet members serve on the supervisory board of the energy conglomerate ČEZ, the country's largest company in terms of revenue. The government touts budget cuts and anti-corruption measures as its chief concerns, including overhauls of the pension and healthcare systems.

"I will ask every government member to take off his party T-shirt and to wear only a T-shirt with a national emblem of the Czech Republic," Nečas said July 13.

TOP 09 Chairman and Foreign Affairs Minister-designate Karel Schwarzenberg said he expects "the government will keep together and that no one will abuse the situation to attack others."

VV Chairman Radek John was the only leader not to emphasize unity July 12 as the three parties announced their memberships had all approved the coalition deal.

"Feuds inside the coalition can only exist if the parties stray from the coalition agreement," TOP 09 Deputy Chairman and Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said July 12.

Cohesion remains an unlikely prospect with local and regional elections slated for the fall, as the parties will once again campaign against one another. Recent weeks have already shed light on divisions.

Schwarzenberg has already condemned the ODS's decisions in choosing leadership for the Environment as well as the Industry and Trade ministries, regretting the influence of ČEZ.

"[The ODS] does not want the ministry to function properly," he said of the Environment Ministry in an interview with the daily Lidové noviny.

Nečas accused VV of having a conflict of interest as it sought control of the Interior Ministry during coalition negotiations, which will now be headed by John. Nečas also floated the idea of a joint campaign between the ODS and TOP 09 in the fall, a prospect both Schwarzenberg and Kalousek swiftly rejected.

The finalization of the agreement comes 45 days after the May general elections. Prior to 2006, governments had all been formed within a month of elections. In 2006, one aborted attempt to form a government led to negotiations that dragged on for nearly eight months before a three-party coalition with Mirek Topolánek as prime minister was able to secure a parliamentary majority. That government fell in a March 2009 no-confidence vote and was replaced in May 2009 by the caretaker government of Jan Fischer that led the country through July 12.   

VV asked its supporters to vote online about whether to approve the coalition agreement. Kristina Kočí, VV's chief negotiator during the formation of the coalition, says the move affirms that VV is "a party of direct democracy."  

About 22 percent of those registered as supporters on the VV Web site voted, and 78 percent of them backed the coalition deal. Virtually anybody could register to vote in the Web poll. John had said he would resign should the coalition deal not be approved.

The ODS and TOP 09 party leaderships both approved the coalition platform July 12.  

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com