* Exit comes weeks before May election
* Topolanek taps election leader Necas as next chairman
* Analysts question if party can rally behind new leader
(Adds analyst quote, background)
By Robert Mueller and Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, April 1 (Reuters) - Former Czech prime minister
Mirek Topolanek said on Thursday he would resign as head of the
Civic Democrats, in a move aimed at uniting the right-wing party
behind its leading candidate in a May parliamentary election.
Topolanek, 53, quit as the party's top candidate last week
after a series of gaffes and scandals alienated his colleagues
and damaged the Civic Democrats' standing before the vote.
The party hopes that Petr Necas, a conservative untainted by
graft accusations who has been tapped to lead them into the May
28-29 vote, can revive their flagging popularity and narrow a
gap in support with the leftist Social Democrats that has
swollen to as much as 13 points in opinion polls.
Topolanek told reporters he would resign after an April 12
meeting of the party's executive committee and said Necas should
lead the party after his exit.
"I have decided that I will prevent at all costs a
double-track (leadership) in the time before a regular congress
(in the autumn) and all my steps lead to having the present
election leader Petr Necas running the party," he said.
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For graphs showing the development of support for the main
parties, click on http://r.reuters.com/veb24j and
http://r.reuters.com/hef34j
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Topolanek said he would resign after the executive committee
agreed to hand Necas the reins of the party, a move which is
unlikely to be opposed.
The Czech Republic needs a strong government to revamp the
budget, which showed deficits even during times of strong
economic growth prior to the global financial crisis.
The Czechs have had a caretaker cabinet led by Jan Fischer
for the past year after Topolanek's cabinet fell midway through
the the country's six-month European Union presidency.
COALITION BUILDING
Polls show that while the Social Democrats will get the
largest share of the vote, they will fall short of a majority
and may have trouble finding partners to form a coalition.
Both the big parties have lost popularity since the last
election as many Czechs grew frustrated by a string of graft
scandals, leading to rising support for new, smaller parties.
This has made predicting the make-up of the next government
difficult. Analysts see a minority Social Democrat-led cabinet,
supported in parliament by the Communists, as one possibility.
A grand coalition of the two biggest parties is another
possibility, although Necas ruled that out last week.
His biggest immediate challenge will be uniting a party torn
by infighting, a step analysts believe will be difficult.
"I think that Petr Necas, although seen as a decent
politician, lacks the authority to unite the party in such
disarray and this may be a problem in the future," said Jiri
Pehe, director of New York University in Prague.
Topolanek led the Civic Democrats since 2002, winning the
leadership role over Necas in a tight vote. He was a strong
supporter of close links with the United States and tempered the
party's earlier scepticism towards EU integration.
But over the past year he has struggled through a series of
public embarrassments, the latest a newspaper leak of private
remarks by Topolanek that could be seen as insensitive to the
church, gays and Jews.
Necas is a conservative from the east of the country, who in
contrast to Topolanek, has a calm demeanour and maintains tight
control of his public image. A former social affairs minister,
Necas formulated the party's policy of tightening social
benefits and plans to reform the pension system.
(Writing by Jana Mlcochova and Jason Hovet; editing by Noah
Barkin)
