Czech leftists torpedo early election plan

       Czech leftist parties torpedoed chances of a November early election yesterday, deepening uncertainty over eroding state finances that the caretaker cabinet warned could eventually cause a meltdown.
       The leftist Social Democrats and the far-left Communists rejected an earlier agreed plan to dissolve the lower house of parliament yesterday and allow for an election, effectively killing the motion before it got to a vote.
       The expected delay deepens weeks of political turmoil and launches Jan Fischer's non-partisan cabinet originally set up to prepare for an early vote into a government that must try to coerce parties into tax hikes and savings.
       It also deepens acrimony between the two main parties, the centre-right Civic Democrats, whose government fell during its European Union presidency in March, and the Social Democrats.
       Despite those factors, however,analysts said putting the vote off until next summer could potentially give quarrelling parties room to reach an agreement to mend the crisis-hit budget deficit, which has tripled this year and is still rising.