UPDATE 1-Czech president names new government

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Czech President Vaclav Klaus named a new government led by rightist Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Tuesday as the EU member tries to extract itself from a seven-month crisis sparked by an inconclusive election.

Topolanek has formed a three-party coalition with the centrist Christian Democrats, the Green Party and his own rightist Civic Democrats.

But the grouping has only 100 seats in the 200-seat parliament, while leftists also control 100 seats, the results of an inconclusive election last June.

The constitution calls for a confidence vote to be held within 30 days but Topolanek has said he would move faster.

"The entire Czech public, and me with it, will be following how you take up your posts in the coming days. We will equally closely follow how the confidence vote in your cabinet will proceed," Klaus said during the swearing-in ceremony at the ancient Prague Castle.

"After nearly a year of no governance, our country surely deserves and needs a fully fledged government. Today's appointment act can bring us closer toward that aim."

Key to Topolanek's chances of winning the confidence vote will be two deputies who have left the leftist Social Democrat parliamentary club to sit as independents.

Topolanek has said he will also start talks with the Social Democrats, although they have rejected supporting the coalition. Topolanek has rejected a formal agreement with the leftists -- a so-called grand coalition -- and prefers an early election if a stable government cannot be formed.

This is the 50-year-old prime minister's second attempt to form a government since the June election. A minority government composed solely of his rightist Civic Democrats failed to win a confidence vote in October.

The parliamentary speaker has the constitutional right to choose a third prime minister.

The current Social Democrat speaker, however, has pledged to step down before the third attempt, and electing a new one may be difficult in the hung parliament unless there is a wider deal among the main parties. If three successive attempts to form a government fail, the president can call early elections.

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]