Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas’ government faces a confidence vote Wednesday. Having won re-election at the ODS party congress over the weekend, Nečas now must quickly tackle a rebellion within his own party that could bring down the cabinet in a matter of hours. The coalition government lost its majority in the lower house and now only has 99 of the 200 seats. Nečas’ sole challenger at the congress was one of a group of six dissenters who oppose the tax hike bill that Nečas considers vital for keeping the budget debt under 3 percent of GDP.
The center-right cabinet won praise from investors because of its determination to narrow the deficit, but this came at the cost of lowered domestic demand and prolonging the recession. If Nečas falls this week, he will join the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Romania, other recent proponents of austerity who were forced to step down, according to Reuters.
