Czech election ends in messy stalemate

PRAGUE, June 3 (Reuters) The Czech general election ended in a stalemate between centre-right and leftist parties yesterday, setting the scene for prolonged horse-trading or even fresh polls before a new government can be formed.

Full preliminary results showed the opposition Civic Democrats won the biggest share of the popular vote but not a majority in the first elections since the ex-communist nation joined the European Union two years ago.

The conservative party and its two smaller centrist allies, the Greens and Christian Democrats, would hold 100 seats in the 200-member lower house -- the same as the ruling Social Democrats and far-left Communists.

''This is probably the worst outcome the election could produce,'' said Pavel Saradin, a political analyst at Palacky University in Olomouc. ''Unless parties make about-faces, they may want to deal the cards again and hold fresh elections.'' Initial exit polls suggested a clear centre-right majority but results from around the country gradually eroded their lead.

Making the situation even messier, Social Democrat Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek refused to concede defeat and threatened to go to court to challenge the election result.

He said sleaze accusations levied against him in the final days of the campaign were ''absurd slander'', lambasting the media for siding with the opposition to undermine him.

''We will check if there are grounds to file ... a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court,'' he told a news conference. ''Democracy in this country has suffered an assault.'' SOUR GRAPES The Civic Democrats and their Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a fellow conservative who may play a pivotal role in any coalition discussions, dismissed Paroubek's threat as sour grapes.

Klaus said he would hold talks with Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek on Monday, a sign he wanted him to be the next prime minister.

The Civic Democrats campaigned on promises to cut taxes, reform pensions and weed out corruption to make the already prosperous and fast-growing country of 10.5 million more competitive in the global economy.

The mildly eurosceptic party opposes deeper European integration and the stalled EU constitution and are lukewarm on Paroubek's aim of adopting the euro in 2010, saying reforms should come first.

Surveys ahead of the vote showed many voters had mixed feelings about the conservatives' economic agenda but wanted to punish the Social Democrats for the sleaze scandals that flourished during their 8-year rule.

Analysts said Czechs were also worried about Paroubek's declared intention to rule with a minority government with Communist support after the vote.

The Communists, whose authoritarian Soviet-backed rule ended in the 1989 ''Velvet Revolution'', saw their share of the vote and seats drop significantly but they will remain the third biggest force in the new parliament.

Only two more parties, the Greens and the Christian Democrats, passed the 5 percent threshold needed to enter parliament but they would hold only 19 seats between them.

Some analysts said the election result could force the Civic Democrats and Social Democrats into a ''grand coalition'', a scenario they say could be acceptable to Klaus.

Others said the Social Democrats may yet win over the Greens and form a minority left-of-centre government that would rely on the tacit support of the Communists.

Reuters PDS VP0350