Klaus bids to recapture power

Vaclav Klaus, ousted as Czech Prime Minister in a party funding row last week, said yesterday he would seek re-election as his party's chairman, making a general election more likely.

Klaus raised the stakes in his fight for control of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) he founded, setting up a showdown in an extraordinary party congress on 13 December.

Klaus is likely to win re-election, creating a split in the ODS and an impasse in the centre-right ruling coalition.

- Reuters, Prague