Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross officially resigned on Monday ending months of political uncertainty after a housing scandal tore apart his government.
Europe’s youngest leader at 35 stepped down as part of a deal reached last week that will see his former three-party coalition government re-form under Regional Development Minister Jiri Paroubek.
“Mr. President has accepted the resignation,” Petr Fujcik, a spokesman for President Vaclav Klaus told reporters.
He added that Paroubek would be called to Prague Castle at 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) when he would be nominated as Gross’s replacement.
Gross, a member of the leftist Social Democrats, has denied any wrongdoing in the financing of a luxury Prague flat six years ago. But he was forced out by the Christian Democrats, who demanded he step down as a condition of returning to the government after leaving several weeks ago.
Under the deal, Gross’s Social Democrat colleague Paroubek will form a new government with the same coalition partners as Gross — the centrist Christian Democrats and the rightist Freedom Union — with 101 seats in the 200-seat lower house.
Paroubek released the names of his ministerial candidates on Friday, with little changes from the previous government.
Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda are among those who will remain in the cabinet.
Though the Czech currency and the country’s economy have not been hurt by the scandal, analysts said a solution to the row would be welcomed by markets which had feared the crisis could drag on through the summer.
