Czech premier turns down nomination for EU executive

Europe News

Nov 7, 2009, 10:54 GMT

Prague - Caretaker Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Saturday indirectly turned down an offer by two major Czech political parties to become the Czech Republic's nominee for the European Commission. The premier confirmed that the two largest parties, Mirek Topolanek's centre-right Civic Democrats and the rival Social Democrats of Jiri Paroubek, offered him the post in the European Union's executive. Fischer, a statistician, said that he was in politics only temporarily and planned to return to his field after a general election in spring 2010. 'I accepted the responsibility to chair the government temporarily and repeatedly declare that professional politics is not my goal,' Fischer said in a statement. He also said that he could not leave his current responsibilities 'from day to day.' Fischer has been at the helm of the Czech Republic's caretaker government since May 8, replacing Topolanek's three-party cabinet that collapsed mid-way in the country's EU presidency in the first half of 2009. Fischer's cabinet was initially planned to rule until a snap election in early October. After the Constitutional Court scrapped the poll, political parties agreed to keep the interim cabinet in place until the regular election, which must take place by June. The premier urged the party leaders to strike a deal on the Czech nomination for the EU's executive. He reiterated that he would select the candidate himself if the politicians failed to do so. The premier is expected to announce the nominee on Monday.

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