Prague - A vote of confidence in the technocratic government of Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok is scheduled for today in the lower chamber of the Czech parliament. The caretaker cabinet, which was appointed by President Milos Zeman at the start of July, needs to secure a majority of the present lawmakers.
The left-wing CSSD and Communist Party (KSCM) as well as left-leaning Public Affairs (VV) have already announced they will vote for the government. This means that the Rusnok cabinet has so far secured 92 votes from the 200-seat lower chamber.
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The former center-right coalition - the ODS, TOP 09 and LIDEM - will vote against Rusnok. The coalition controls 101 seats in the lower house, the tiniest majority. If the three parties keep their word, the Rusnok cabinet will lose the confidence vote.
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09:09 PM (CET) - Technocratic Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok has lost a vote of confidence, with 93 deputies voting in favor and 100 against his cabinet. Seven lawmakers were absent.
08:00 PM (CET) - TOP 09 has started to talk to the CSSD about the possibility of a snap election, said a source from the CSSD.
06:48 PM (CET) - Two ODS lawmakers, Tomas Ulehla and Jan Florian, said thay will not vote against the Rusnok government. This means that as of now, there are only 99 members of the 200-seat lower house who are going to vote against the interim government.
Also, lawmakers Kristyna Koci and Jaroslav Skarka said they will vote in favor of the Rusnok cabinet.
06:20 PM (CET) - The technocratic government of Jiri Rusnok is actually the government of the unelected SPOZ party, controlled by President Zeman, said TOP 09 deputy chairman Miroslav Kalousek.
05:07 PM (CET) - Three or four lawmakers from the 50-member parliamentary group of the right-wing ODS party have openly started to prefer an early election.
03:08 PM (CET) - The left-wing CSSD will vote in favor of the Rusnok government in order to prevent the return of a right-wing government and more austerity measures, said CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka. Many people got poorer during the previous right wing government, he added.
12:10 PM (CET) - Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok presents the policy statement of his government. He mentioned that the Czech economy has been in recession since the last quarter of 2011. One of his cabinet's priorities will be to achieve an economic recovery.
10:54 AM (CET) - "We have entered into a political crisis that started with a police raid and eventually the resignation of the prime minister," said President Zeman during a lower chamber discussion before the vote, explaining why he decided to appoint a caretaker government.
Zeman also said that he will not name a new government until the Nagyova case is solved. This means that the Rusnok government will stay in office even if, as expected, it does not win the confidence vote today.
