Prague - The November session of the Czech Chamber of Deputies ended before it could properly start today as the deputies failed to approve the session's agenda, after two hours of preparations.

The draft agenda was supported 90 out of 180 deputies present, one vote less than needed to approve the programme, 83 deputies were against it.

The proposed agenda was rejected by a majority of the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) and Communists (KSCM). Some of the opposition lawmakers abstained from the vote.

David Rath (CSSD), chairman of the health committee, said one of the reasons the opposition rejected the agenda was its failure to include the CSSD proposal to discuss the proposed abolition of health care fees for children under 18, old-age pensioners and people with income under twice subsistence level.

The Communists failed to push through their proposal to delete the treaties on the planned U.S. radar base in the Brdy military district, some 90km southwest of Prague, from the agenda.

The Chamber of Deputies started discussing the treaties, dealing with the radar installation and the status of U.S. soldiers on Czech territory, respectively, in late October but it interrupted the debate then.

The U.S. radar base, along with interceptor missiles in Poland, is to be part of the U.S. anti-missile shield. The Czech government asserts the radar is to integrated in NATO structures.

The opposition is against the project as is a large number of Czechs. According to a poll the STEM agency conducted in July, the radar project is opposed to 44 percent of Czechs, but other polls have shown a larger number of opponents, about two-third of the population.

Chamber of Deputies chairman Miloslav Vlcek (CSSD) said today he expects the group of the senior government Civic Democratic Party (ODS) to ask him to convoke an extraordinary session to discuss at least the state budget for next year.

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