The Public Affairs party will leave the government if Prime Minister
Nečas does not meet certain demands. After a seven-hour meeting on
Wednesday, the party's gremium ordered its ministers to leave the
government by May 1 if the Prime Minister does not agree almost immediately
to resolve a number of issues and affairs that the party says has damaged
the credibility of the government. The basis for the gremium's vote on
whether to remain in government was the recent release of a taped telephone
conversation between two party officials which suggested that members of
the senior coalition party, the Civic Democrats, had attempted to
orchestrate a coup within Public Affairs.
Prime Minister Nečas responded to the public annoucement by saying he
refused blackmail and ultimatums and expects the junior coalition party to
bring their complaints to him personally, rather than through the media.
Public Affairs, he said, was alone responsible for the lack of trust in
government. Should the government collapse, he said he would support the
scheduling of early elections as quickly as possible - an option also
voiced by Miroslav Kalousek, deputy chair of the other party in the
coalition, TOP 09.