UPDATE 3-Rightist Topolanek to become Czech PM again

(Updates after meeting between president and Topolanek)

By Alan Crosby

PRAGUE, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Tuesday he would name rightist leader Mirek Topolanek as prime minister for the second time since an inconclusive June election left parliament deadlocked.

"We are aware of the seriousness of the political situation and feel our own responsibility, so I am accepting the mandate to form a government," Topolanek told a news conference after Klaus said he would make the appointment official on Wednesday.

Klaus first named Topolanek as prime minister after the June 2-3 election, but with the lower house split evenly between leftist and rightist parties, the rightist government failed to win a confidence vote and resigned in October.

Exasperated by the lack of cooperation between the five parliamentary parties since the election, Klaus proposed last week a "rainbow coalition" of all parties except for the far left Communists, to be followed by early elections.

But the leftist Social Democrats, who finished second in the June election behind Topolanek's Civic Democrats, rejected the proposal and want a chance to try and form a government.

Topolanek said earlier on Tuesday that he had received a broad mandate from the party to launch talks with other parties on forming a new government but ruled out a grand coalition with the Social Democrats.

"We are not afraid to dust off options that have been unsuccessful to date, nor of offering new variations (for a government)," Topolanek said..

But when asked if he would talk to the Social Democrats about a grand coalition, Topolanek said: "I do not think the broad mandate (for negotiations) includes this kind of option."

Topolanek, buoyed by the Civic Democrats' dominance in last month's Senate and municipal votes, wants an interim government to rule until fresh elections can be held early next year.

Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek, who was prime minister before Topolanek won the election, said his party would be open to supporting a minority Civic Democrat government for a two-year mandate.

The Civic Democrats have long rejected such an arrangement, and analysts said Topolanek may try to cobble together a coalition with the centrist Christian Democrats and the Green Party, which would have 100 seats in the 200 seat lower house.

They would then rely on the support or abstention from voting of leftist deputy Michal Pohanka, who left the Social Democrats to sit as an independent.

If two governments fail, the leader of the third is chosen by the house speaker. Miroslav Vlcek, a Social Democrat, holds that position, but he took it under an agreement that he would step down if a second government is toppled.

If a third government fails, the president can call early elections within 60 days. Otherwise, parliament needs a three-fifths majority vote to dissolve itself and trigger an election. ((Writing by Alan Crosby, editing by Janet Lawrence; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH POLITICS