Former Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg says he will quit as chairman of the opposition, conservative TOP 09 party.
The 77-year-old, who has led the party since it was established in 2009, announced Monday he will not seek re-election at November's party congress.
A member of a European noble family, Schwarzenberg lived in exile on his family's estates in Austria and Germany during communist rule in Czechoslovakia from 1948 until 1989. After the Velvet Revolution, he became chancellor to President Vaclav Havel.
He served as foreign minister in 2007-09 and again in 2010-13.
Schwarzenberg lost to leftist candidate Milos Zeman in the 2013 presidential election.
His deputy, former Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, is considered to be his likely successor.
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