Battered by a campaign finance scandal, Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus stepped down Saturday after half of his 16-member Cabinet resigned.
"I do not think it would be productive for this government to go on, and naturally it is out of the question for me to seek any kind of important position in the government to come," Klaus told a late-night news conference broadcast live on television.President Vaclav Havel was to begin talks Sunday with Klaus and other leaders of the three-party ruling alliance on how to keep the governing coalition from collapsing and to choose a new premier.
Klaus' resignation followed an unprecedented public demand Saturday from Havel that he quit.
"The only meaningful solution is the fastest possible resignation of the entire government, headed by its premier," said Havel, widely regarded as his nation's moral authority.
Klaus, a feisty economist once widely lauded for a smooth transition from communism to capitalism, had come under fire since losing elections in June 1996 and being forced to form a minority government. A downturn in the Czech economy this year further dented his reputation.
The opposition to Klaus increased last week when the premier's party admitted receiving a hefty donation from a businessman who had just acquired a large stake in a steel firm privatized by Klaus' government.
Earlier Saturday, the small Civic Democratic Alliance said it was quitting Klaus' Cabinet. On Friday, the Christian Democrats announced they were pulling out their four ministers - including the key defense minister.
One possible successor to Klaus is Vice Premier Josef Lux, who leads the Christian Democrats. Other possible candidates include Ivan Pilip, the current finance minister, and Josef Tosovsky, the non-partisan governor of the national bank.
The scandal erupted after Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec quit last month, citing secrecy over party finances as one motive. His statement prompted Czech politicians and journalists to dig into old reports that there was something irregular about the $220,000 donation.