PM Nečas shows skepticism over government's future

Prague, Sept 25 (CTK) - A government that would only survive in an "imaginary political resuscitation unit" as one of the coalition partners will be unable to observe the coalition pacts does not make sense, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) said Tuesday.

Necas said it was also true of the situation in which his own government party would be the unreliable government coalition partner.

In such a situation, a new mandate for a new government arisen from elections would be the only honest solution, he added.

Earlier Tuesday, TOP 09, a coalition government member, urged the ODS to honour the coalition agreement on the state 2013 budget and pension reform, otherwise the government would lose its raison d'etre.

A government in which one of the parties would be incapable of fulfilling its pledges would be unable to implement its policy statement and its existence would have no sense anymore, TOP 09 spokeswoman Alzbeta Plivova said on behalf of TOP 09.

The TOP 09 board addressed the appeal to the ODS Tuesday after a six-member group of rebellious ODS deputies did not help the coalition government override a Senate veto of the government-proposed tax package earlier this month.

The government needs the crucial legislation, that includes a 1 percent increase in VAT, for the preparation of the budget bill.

Some ODS deputies are also reluctant to help override President Vaclav Klaus's veto on the pension reform.

"Either the ODS deputies' group agrees inside itself and is able to implement the agreement along with coalition partners and then it makes sense to provide information on the agreement. Or it does not, which will have its consequences," Necas said.

Necas said he had not been surprised by the stand adopted by TOP 09.

"It really does not make sense for the government to continue, to survive in a way or to be in some imaginary political rescuscitation unit with some intravenous therapy, to have its life artificially continued," he added.

TOP 09 deputy chairman and Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said if the government did not observe agreements, it would not fulfil its priorities and would lose its sense.

"We firmly hope that as a mature party, the ODS will be able to observe the pacts it has concluded," Kalousek said

One of the rebels, ODS deputy Boris Stastny, Tuesday declined to say how he will behave when the vote on Klaus's veto was held.

"We should resolve the situation in a quiet way. It is only work, it is politics," Stastny said.

He said he expected a "serious debate" on the attitude to the presidential veto in several weeks' time.