Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas to resign amid scandal

GlobalPost
The World

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas will resign on Monday. 

"I will resign as prime minister tomorrow," Necas told reporters on Sunday after speaking to members of his Civic Democrat party.

The move came days after Necas was pulled into a scandal involving his head of office, Jana Nagyova, who is accused of bribing lawmakers and overseeing illegal spy operations on citizens.

One of the citizens was Necas' own wife, whom he is divorcing even as he claims to have been unaware of the surveillance.

This probably means a completely fresh start for the government, even though the Civic Democrats are expected to nominate a new leader as soon as possible, according to the BBC.

Reuters said Necas is trying to piece together a new government led by someone else to tide things over until next year's elections, adding it was "unclear" if that would fly with President Milos Zeman. 

A former prime minister, as well as ex-heads of military intelligence, and two former lawmakers have all been detained as part of the corruption probe

More from GlobalPost: Masked police detain top Czech officials for corruption

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.