Czech Republic

VACLAV KLAUS, the Czech president, has asked Petr Necas to form a government. That does not mean that the coalition talks are over. Indeed, the caretaker prime minister Jan Fischer still remains at his desk. The centre-right ODS party and the new TOP 09 and VV (Public Affairs) parties are still haggling over the details of the new government, in particular who will gain the finance and interior portfolios. What is clear is that talks are nearing their conclusion. The make-up of the new cabinet will be six seats for ODS, five for TOP09 and four for Public Affairs. The new government will have 118 seats in the parliament, ending more than 15 years of governments with wafer-thin majorities or none at all.

The headline news is that parties have agreed to cut next year's deficit from this year's 5.3% to 4.8% next year. A bigger question is whether they can convincingly respond to the voters' wishes for transparency and honesty in politics. Being a bit better than the last lot will be nice, but not enough.