As expected, President V. Klaus asked the acting Social Democrats leader S. Gross to form a new Cabinet last Friday. Discussions among the major political parties are expected to také several weeks. Mr. Gross indicated he would like to form a coalition Cabinet with the same two parties (the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union) that were in the previous Cabinet. However, such a coalition would have a mere 99 votes in the 200-member Parliament; he thus also admitted negotiations with the opposition parties: the Civic Democrats and the Communists. There can be three attempts to form a Cabinet and win a vote of confidence from Parliament before early elections are called.
Jan Hájek