Czech rightist President Vaclav Klaus said on Friday he would not accept the resignation of Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, calling it an irresponsible step as the two clashed over how to end a political stalemate.
The leftists Paroubek said this week he would step down on July 3 after an inconclusive June 2-3 election where the rightist Civic Democrats took the most votes, but not a parliamentary majority.
By law, the government must resign when a new parliament elects its leadership, but that has failed to happen because leftist, centre and rightist parties - who each control 100 seats in parliament - have yet to agree on lower house posts.
"I would consider (the resignation), in this political and constitutional situation, to be an irresponsible step and a government running away from responsibility at a time when the lower house is not functional," Klaus told a news conference.
Paroubek shot back at a hastily-called news conference that the Civic Democrats had stated several times Paroubek should quit to allow the political stalemate to move forward. "I will make good on my promise, and tender my resignation to the president," Paroubek told a news conference.
"I assume ... I will either be authorised to stay in power (if the resignation is accepted) or the resignation will be rejected immediately." The lower house met on Thursday but failed to elect a speaker, highlighting the stalemate.
The failure to pick a speaker cast doubt on the attempt by Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek to form a cabinet with the centrist Christian Democrats and the Greens.
Such a cabinet would hold 100 seats in parliament, the same as the combined total of Paroubek's leftist Social Democrats, who came second in the election, and the far-left Communists. Paroubek said that in his mind, the coalition "was dead", and that a deal between the two biggest parties was the way out of the deadlock.