RPT-Czech leftists set Dec 15 deadline for govt talks

(Repeats story published late on Tuesday)

PRAGUE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's leftist Social Democrats on Tuesday gave Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek a Dec. 15 deadline to reach a deal and form a government, or they would try to do so on their own.

A June election handed 100 seats to leftists and 100 to centrist and right-wing parties in the lower house and nearly six months of political deadlock has ensued.

A minority cabinet of Topolanek's right-wing Civic Democrats has already lost a confidence vote, and the party's attempt to form a temporary four-party coalition with the Social Democrats, centrist Greens and Christian Democrats failed when the leftists refused to take part.

Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek has instead pushed for a three-party solution involving his party, Topolanek's Civic Democrats and the Christian Democrats, which would last at least three years and carry out reforms allowing the country to adopt the euro by 2012.

"Our position remains a three-party coalition ... and such a government -- to which we give priority and are willing to compromise to achieve -- should be formed by December 15," Social Democrat vice-chairman Zdenek Skromach told a news conference on Tuesday.

Paroubek said the party would prefer to try and form its own government in a third attempt rather than head into opposition and allow Topolanek to form a minority government.

If three attempts to form a government fail, the president can call early elections.

The Civic Democrats have said they still want four parties to be a part of an agreement on a new government, though not all had to take cabinet seats.

Topolanek, whose party has favoured an early election, has said the length of any coalition government mandate would depend on the range of reforms the parties agreed on, as more reforms would justify a longer rule.

The Czech Republic has benefited from fast economic growth but needs to revamp its health, pension and social security systems to slash mounting budget deficits, which have made it impossible to join the euro zone by 2010 as previously planned. ((Reporting by Petra Vodstrcilova, Writing by Alan Crosby; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH POLITICS/