Coalition Parties Clash Over Details Of Austerity Package, Meeting Expected Tomorrow

Seznam Zpravy reports that coalition MPs have put together a list of amendments to Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura's fiscal consolidation package as the bloc's unified stance on the matter proves more fragile than the government sought to demonstrate initially.

• Internal criticism surfaced in the Chamber of Deputies as the Pirate Party's Jakub Michalek uploaded an amendment to the parliamentary system without consulting it with coalition partners, violating an earlier agreement between coalition members.
• Seznam Zpravy reports that there is a list of roughly two dozen amendments proposed by coalition members, with comments submitted by individual parties. Coalition representatives are planning to discuss them in Thursday.
• For example, the STAN party, whose primary focus are regional politics, are against allocating part of the increased revenue from the property tax hike to the state budget and are lobbying for keeping it in municipal coffers.
• Tensions within the ruling coalition overlap with a heated dispute between the government and the opposition over the proposed austerity measures, making it more difficult to precisely predict the final shape of the package.
• The Chamber of Deputies is currently discussing the fiscal consolidation package, with the debate deliberately prolonged by opposition lawmakers. Seznam Zpravy reports that the debate could last at least until Friday.