The debate on pension adjustment has begun in Parliament, bringing the parties into conflict
Regulations on pension adjustment have been discussed in the Czech Parliament since Tuesday. If the measures are approved, pensions would be reduced by about 1,000 crowns per month less than the current amounts. This would result in savings of about twenty billion czech kronor for the state coffers. Long time was needed in the Parliament for this discussion, STAN Club President Josef Cogan decided that parliamentarians, with the exception of speakers with priority rights, would be allowed to speak a maximum of two times, each for a maximum of five minutes, arguing that the repeated arguments are always the same.
The discussion on the pension amendments was, of course, met with obstacles from the opposition. Schillerová criticized the activities and intentions of Petr Fiala’s (ODS) cabinet, accusing the coalition of undemocratic methods during the discussion, including violation of procedural rules. However, the coalition will try to proceed in such a way that the House of Representatives will approve the amendments by Friday.
Another opposition party, the SPD led by Tomio Okamura, has been strongly opposed as it argues that the government is intervening in vested rights. Okamura went so far as to speak in front of deputies for seven hours straight, saying that if the rule is approved, the opposition will go to the Constitutional Court. Klára Dostálová, vice chairwoman of the ANO Chamber, accused the cabinet of not using democratic methods and said that amendments on pension rules should have retroactive effects. Still, Labor Minister Marian Jurečka argued that this pension evaluation system is unsustainable in case of high inflation. However, he has been criticized for not providing sufficient reasons to support his argument. For these discussions, the government has proposed to approve this proposal but under a state of legislative emergency. If Parliament confirms the legislative emergency, a decision will have to be made whether to debate the amendment in an abbreviated form, thus skipping the first reading.
Sources: https://www.camic.cz/ ; https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/
Sources of images: https://pixabay.com/ ; https://storyset.com/
