UPDATE 1-Czech centre-right leader quits election race

                                
 * Topolanek steps aside two months ahead of election
                                
 * Leftists seen winning the vote but not with majority
                                
 
                                
 By Robert Mueller
                                
 PRAGUE, March 25 (Reuters) - Former Czech Prime Minister
Mirek Topolanek quit as candidate for the right-wing Civic
Democrats on Thursday, giving in to pressure from within his
party two months ahead of a May 28-29 general election.
                                
 The ouster came after a newspaper leaked private remarks by
Topolanek that were criticised as insensitive to the church,
gays and Jews, and was a last-ditch attempt by rivals to revive
the party's fortunes by ditching the gaffe-prone leader.
                                
 Topolanek said he would consider whether to remain party
chairman, and recommended former labour and social affairs
minister Petr Necas as the party's election leader.
                                
 "The decision we made is pragmatic and correct," Topolanek
told reporters following a party leadership meeting after nearly
eight years as party leader and a year after he lost the job of
prime minister in a no-confidence vote.
                                
 The Civic Democrats have been lagging by up to 13 points
behind the leftist Social Democrats in opinion polls ahead of
the election, which pits the left's tax-and-spend policies
against budget moderation plans by the right.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^    For graphs showing the development of support for the main
parties, click on http://r.reuters.com/veb24j
                                
           and http://r.reuters.com/hef34j
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^    The country, run by a caretaker cabinet, needs a strong
government to push through deep reforms to avoid an
unsustainable budget gap, restart growth and bring the country
closer to adoption of the euro.
                                
 No party is expected to win an outright majority. The Social
Democrats, who promise generous welfare spending, appear likely
to be the main force in the next administration.
                                
 Analysts said the Civic Democrats had suffered from
Topolanek's gaffes but it was far from clear whether changing a
leader few weeks before the vote could help a party long
burdened by infighting and a string of graft scandals.
                                
 "The conviction took root in the party that with Topolanek,
it is headed for a defeat in the election ... but the party does
not have a second strong leader like him," said Jindrich Sidlo,
political commentator at Czech Television.
                                
 Voters defecting from the Civic Democrats have mostly not
crossed to the left, but have boosted support for new small
centrist and conservative parties such as TOP09 and Veci Verejne
(Public Affairs). 
                                
 Opinion polls show the possible election outcomes include a
minority Social Democrat cabinet supported by the Communists, a
Social Democrat coalition with centrist parties, or a grand
coalition of the Social and Civic Democrats. A centre-right
coalition led by the Civic Democrats is a less likely
possibility.
 (Writing by Jan Lopatka; editing by Andrew Roche)