The Czech Republic's deputy premier said on Sunday some in the governing coalition are considering the option of ditching Prime Minister Petr Necas after one of his closest aides was charged with bribery and ordering illegal surveillance.
_0">Necas has been under pressure to resign since the biggest police operation against corruption in two decades led to the detention of his long-standing aide Jana Nagyova along with five other suspects.
Two partners in Necas's centre-right coalition, which has a wobbly majority in parliament, have been increasingly uneasy about staying in government with Necas, who has insisted he has done nothing wrong and will not quit.
Asked on Czech television if the coalition could continue until a regular election next year under a different prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake said: "It is one of the options."
The three coalition party leaders were due to meet at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) Sunday to discuss the fate of the government, after Necas returns from a scheduled visit to neighboring Poland.
The opposition has called a vote of no confidence for Tuesday, which Necas can survive only if both coalition partners, LIDEM and the conservative TOP09, back him.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet,; Editing by Michael Kahn and Mark Heinrich)