Czech President to begin talks, wait on nomination

PRAGUE, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus will begin talks on Thursday with all five parties in the deadlocked parliament, but still plans to wait at least until the end of the month to nominate a new prime minister, a key aide said. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's minority government was ousted in a parliamentary confidence vote last week amid a lower house deadlock caused by an inconclusive June general election that saw leftist and centre-right parties each win 100 seats. Klaus has pledged to wait to nominate a new prime minister until after local and Senate elections that run until the end of the month.

"It's just for the president to hear the stances of the parties concerning a new government, their proposals," Ladislav Jakl, a top adviser to the rightist president, said on Tuesday.

Under the constitution, Klaus can nominate anyone he chooses. Jakl has said the president wanted to see if any party could show they had a majority in the lower house, an unlikely prospect given the current deep split.

This made it likely, analysts said, that the parties would agree with Klaus on an interim technocrat government followed by early elections.

"Klaus will probably look for a neutral candidate (to head a technocrat government) ... It's apparent that the only correct solution now is early elections," said political analyst Bohumil Dolezal, adding an interim government would probably have a mandate for three or four months.

Czech Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said last week he could break the country's political deadlock by forming a minority government capable of winning a confidence vote in parliament.

Paroubek would have to count on the far-left Communists for support, and all other parties have ruled out voting in favour of any cabinet backed by the unreformed party.

The local elections on Oct. 20-21, and the Senate vote the same weekend -- with a second round scheduled for Oct. 27-28 -- will not directly impact the situation in the lower house.

But politicians are watching the results to see if the four-month stalemate has hurt their parties, and whether they would fare better or worse if early elections were held.

Czech financial markets have shrugged off the political turmoil but analysts have warned that political paralysis may hit the crown currency if it drags on for several more months. ((Reporting by Alan Crosby; Editing by Tom Armitage; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH POLITICS