No Confidence Vote Comes Ahead Of Obama Visit

While the government of Poland lobbies the Obama administration to stay the course with a missile defense system for eastern Europe, opponents of the plan are hailing a political victory in the Czech Republic.

The Associated Press reports Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, an advocate of a US-supplied missle shield, was embarrassed Tuesday by a 101-96 no-confidence vote in parliament, which led to his resignation Thursday. The embarrassment was deepened by the timing, two weeks before a state visit by US President Barack Obama, and in the midst of the republic's hosting of the rotating EU Presidency.

Jan Tamas, who has organized protests against the missle shield, was celebrating. "It's a big victory for democracy in our country. We're glad that a government which ignored the will of a majority of people has fallen."

But the celebration may be premature. It wasn't the missile defense issue, but rather the government's handling of the economy which drew the no-confidence vote.

And Topolanek may not ever actually leave office. He'll be on the job as a lame duck while his opposition tries to form a new government. If three such attempts fail, an election will be held, and Topolanek is expected to be a candidate.

For now, Topolanek assures other EU governments the change will have no effect on the country's EU presidency.

FMI: www.czech.cz/