Sixth time lucky?
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It has taken 15 months, but a new Czech prime minister was finally sworn in today. At the ceremony President Vaclav Klaus expressed his hope that Petr Nečas really is the man to create a stable government, a goal that eluded his five predecessors in the prime minister's hot seat.
After over a year of political limbo caused by the collapse of the former centre-right coalition, Petr Nečas was appointed by President Klaus in a brief ceremony at Prague Castle this morning.
Mr Nečas will head a centre-right government that promises austerity measures to rein in the budget deficit and a concerted campaign against corruption.
For the time being, however, caretaker Prime Minister Jan Fischer remains at the helm until his replacement comes up with a government. This is already proving tricky. The coalition partners are holding up the process by bickering over who will get the key finance and interior ministry posts.
Despite these teething troubles, President Klaus expressed his hope that Mr Nečas will be the last prime minister he will appoint during his time in office.
Euranet's Rob Cameron reports that the new prime minister "is generally portrayed as a Mr Clean figure and a safe pair of hands", whose most worrying trait so far appears only to be a self-proclaimed addiction to chocolate.
