UPDATE 1-Czech government loses confidence vote

(recasts after vote)

PRAGUE, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, as expected, lost a vote of confidence in parliament on Tuesday, automatically triggering the fall of his minority rightist government, unofficial results showed.

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.

According to unofficial results, 99 deputies voted against the government in the 200-seat lower house, while 96 voted in favour and five were not present.

Topolanek said just ahead of the vote that if he loses, his government -- which under the constitution must step aside -- will most likely resign next Wednesday unless an agreement with the other parties in parliament dictates otherwise.

The deadlock has failed to hit markets, with investors instead focusing on a strong economy that shows few ill effects.

But analysts have said the country needs to ensure reforms to sectors such as healthcare, public finances and pensions remain on track for the adoption of the euro.

The crown currency slightly weakened after the vote, easing to 28.280 to the euro from 28.265 just ahead of it.

President Vaclav Klaus, a former prime minister, now has the right to pick a second prime minister, including Topolanek once again.

However, his advisers have said that any candidate must be able to show they have a majority in the lower house before Klaus would nominate them. They added that the right-wing president is likely to push for a government of experts followed by early elections, as no one appears able to cobble together a majority. ((Reporting by Alan Crosby,; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH POLITICS