Civic Democrats deputy chair says TOP 09 demand pretext for early elections

The deputy chairman of the Civic Democrats, Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba, has described TOP 09’s demand regarding the EU treaty as a pretext for bringing about early elections. He suggested that the present moment could be a good opportunity for Mr. Kalousek, who is regarded as the de facto leader of TOP 09, to capitalise on the showing by its official chairman, Karel Schwarzenberg, in the presidential election, in which he received over two million votes in the second round runoff.

The Civic Democrats say there is no reason for Prague to sign up to the fiscal compact as the country has not adopted the euro; furthermore, they say, Czechs should decide on the matter in a referendum, because it would hand over some powers to Brussels.

Author: Ian Willoughby