Prague/Strasbourg, France – Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Wednesday that his government’s fall will not threaten his country’s ability to chair the European Union.

“The fact that the government has resigned won’t endanger the (EU) presidency,” Topolanek told EU lawmakers a day after his cabinet lost a vote of no-confidence in parliament.

After the vote on Tuesday, Topolanek acknowledged that his presidency’s negotiating strength within the EU may weaken. Nevertheless, he sought to calm Europe with his speech in Strasbourg.

“I would not colour it so darkly,” he said. “I assure you that the Czech presidency will not suffer in any way.”

The premier is to submit his resignation to the president after a cabinet session on Thursday, his spokeswoman said. But his cabinet will govern in a caretaker capacity until the next government is sworn in.

Analysts expect Topolanek’s cabinet to finish its EU term ending June 30 in a caretaker capacity, a scenario backed by opposition Social Democrats, who incited the confidence motion.

However, the fate of the EU’s reform pact, the Lisbon Treaty, may be at stake.

Topolanek said after the vote on Tuesday that the accord’s ratification in parliament’s upper house largely relies on whether he maintains control over his Civic Democratic Party, a portion of which sides with President Vaclav Klaus in rejecting the pact.

“I will do my best to honour my commitment so I do not have to withdraw my signature,” he told EU lawmakers.

The Lisbon Treaty, which would overhaul EU’s institutions if adopted by all 27 EU members in a bid to streamline decision-making in the union, was also among the reasons for the government’s collapse.

A defector from Topolanek’s Civic Democrats, whose vote helped to topple the cabinet, cited his opposition to the fact as a justification for his vote.

This is not the first time a government has collapsed while chairing the EU. Governments in Denmark and Italy were forced to resign during their rotating half-year presidencies in 1993 and 1996 respectively.

While other European governments recently collapsed owing to the economic crisis, the Czech centre-right three-party ruling coalition fell victim to long-standing domestic squabbles.

The Social Democrats attempted to topple the cabinet four times before surprisingly succeeding on Tuesday. The attack strategy led some newspapers to refer to Topolanek’s opponents as “a dictatorship of the irresponsible.”

Topolanek’s foe, president Klaus, is now the master of Czech politics as he is to designate the next prime minister. He has no deadline for doing so and has, so far, declined to reveal his plans.

“The vote gave a boost to the president’s role in negotiations and on the political scene,” said political scientist Petr Just of Prague’s Metropolitan University.

Topolanek said he expects Klaus to give him another chance to form a majority cabinet, an impossible task without a deal with his enemies, the Social Democrats. The premier said he would insist on early elections if he fails.

The opposition Social Democrats would prefer a caretaker government, followed by early elections in the autumn or next spring, which would take place closer to regular general elections planned for mid 2010.

Personal animosities between the premier and Social Democratic leader Jiri Paroubek dating back to the 2006 elections are likely to impair a quick, smooth deal, be it on the new cabinet or early elections.

“I would not expect the country to quickly and easily proceed either towards a new government or early elections,” Just said. (dpa)