FACTBOX-Process for forming a Czech government

Oct 3 (Reuters) - The Czech minority government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek fell on Tuesday after it lost a confidence vote in parliament.

Parliament has been deadlocked since a June election with leftist and centre-right parties each controlling 100 seats and Topolanek was expected to lose the vote since the two sides failed to reach a deal on support.

Following is the constitutional process for forming a new cabinet and the path to a possible new election:

PRESIDENT'S NEXT MOVE

President Vaclav Klaus can now appoint another prime minister and a new cabinet, which again must seek confidence in the lower house.

There is no time limit set for him to do this, and Klaus has indicated it will not happen before the end of October, after local and Senate elections.

Klaus is under no obligation to nominate any particular person. He may ask Topolanek to once again try to form a government, or he may ask another member of the rightist Civic Democrats, who won a June election but failed to get a majority.

Klaus could also ask former Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, whose leftist Social Democrats came in second in the election, or a politician from one of two centrist parties in parliament. He has ruled out asking a member of the far-left Communists.

THIRD ATTEMPT

If the second attempt also fails, the president appoints the third prime minister on the recommendation of the speaker of the lower house. The third government again must seek confidence.

The current speaker is a Social Democrat, but he was sworn in under an agreement among parties that he would step down before it was his turn to nominate a prime minister. If this agreement holds, the five parties in parliament must once again agree on a deal for a new speaker, who would then make the nomination.

EARLY ELECTION

The president can dissolve the lower house if it fails to give confidence to the third government in a row. A new election would be called within 60 days.

Parliament and the president do not necessarily have to wait for all three attempts to fail.

Early elections could also arise through a constitutional change, where a three-fifth majority in both the lower house and the Senate agree to shorten the lower house's term.

This was done to call an early election in 1998 and Klaus's aides say the president may try to follow this route instead of giving the leftists a chance at forming a government.

Paroubek would likely need the support of the Communists to win a confidence vote, and Klaus loathes the idea of a government reliant on the unreformed party.

((Reporting by Alan Crosby; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH POLITICS