Czech centrist chief says no hurry on govt -paper

...the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes as saying on Wednesday.

"We aren't in a hurry, it's not that it must be this week," Cunek was quoted by the Web site (www.idnes.cz) as saying.

Last week President Vaclav Klaus refused to appoint a three-party centre-right coalition led by rightist Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

The coalition, comprised of Topolanek's Civic Democratic Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Green Party, holds 100 seats in the 200-seat lower house and would have to rely upon defectors from the left, which holds the same number of seats. Klaus said he regarded this set up as unstable, and urged Topolanek to find broader support from the leftists.

Topolanek has pledged to forge ahead with the plan, and Cunek said it was only a matter of time before the government is appointed.

"It will either be now, during the holidays, or it will be in the beginning of January ... According to me, there are no major issues," Cunek said.

This is Topolanek's second attempt to form a government since a June general election left the lower house evenly split between right and left.

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

The country has seen its strong economy ride out the current political turmoil without a bump, and the crown currency has jumped to record highs against the euro.

Klaus is under no time pressure to name a new government, but analysts say the sooner the better because to begin enacting reforms on public spending and social and healthcare to ready the Czechs for euro adoption some time after 2010.

Topolanek says his proposed government is the best way forward for the country from the current stalemate, and that it will enact the reforms or call early elections if the left blocks the reform moves.

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]