Brussels, 27/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - After the Parliament's vote of defiance on Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek presented his resignation to President Vaclav Klaus on Thursday. Klaus stressed how important it was to form a government supported by a parliamentary majority as soon as possible. “We need a rapid solution, because of the economic crisis and because the presidency of the European Union needs a perfectly operational government”, Klaus said. The president nonetheless felt that any new government should benefit from the support of a majority of parliamentarians which, in principle, dismisses the solution of maintaining the current government in place to manage current affairs until after the term of European presidency - unless the opposition agrees to put up with it until the end of the EU presidency and the convening of new elections. Even in this case, it would still be necessary for Mr Klaus to designate Mr Topolánek to head the government of transition. Relations between the two men have been particularly tense since Thursday when the prime minster, now resigned, accused Klaus of having played a driving role in the fall of his government (among other things due to its positive attitude towards the Lisbon Treaty, the Czech press states). On Friday, the leader of the Social Democrat Party and initiator of the censure movement, Jiri Paroubek, called for elections in October. “October is the earliest possible month for elections”, Paroubek said after a meeting with President Klaus. Under certain conditions, Social Democrats could agree to have the former government lead the country until the end of the EU presidency in June, before being replaced by a transitional cabinet of experts until elections in October, said Paroubek. In the meantime, the ball is in the court of President Klaus. (H.B./transl.jl)