Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas’ position has been further weakened following the abrupt resignation of senior coalition party (ODS) deputy Petr Fiala. Nečas’ support in Parliament is quickly dwindling. His coalition party now has just 99 out of 200 seats, including five from the PM’s own party who refuse to support an unpopular tax proposal Nečas considers crucial to government policy.
The vote on the tax hikes should come next week, following an ODS party congress over the weekend. Fiala said he simply could no longer agree with the party’s policies. “The reason is the deepening of differences mainly in the fundamental question of raising taxes,” he said in a statement cited by Reuters.
The center-right government insists on raising value added tax and income taxes in an effort to reduce the budget deficit to 3 percent of GDP in 2013. Nečas has raised the stakes by linking the vote on the bill to the fate of his government, meaning that failure to approve the bill would force his resignation.
