President Pavel May Refuse To Sign Pension Reforms Into Law Today

Seznam Zpravy run a source report noting that President Petr Pavel will not sign the government's pension reforms today, which is required for the measures to come into force next month and affect January pension indexation. The legislation not only slows the automatic pension hikes, but also tightens the rules on extraordinary indexations and early retirement.

• According to Seznam Zpravy, Pavel believes that the reforms are too mild (i.e. do not generate sufficient savings for the state budget). He also thinks that the new rules have been implemented too quickly for people considering early retirement to adjust their plans.
• The President will hold his regular meeting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala at 17:00BST/18:00CEST and the two leaders are expected to discuss the situation. No media briefing had been initially planned after the meeting, but the Castle has now said that its spokesperson will take questions about the pension reforms.
• Should the President decide not to approve the pension reform, as suggested by the Seznam Zpravy report, he would have two options. He could veto the legislation, which could be overruled by an absolute majority in parliament. Alternatively, he could refuse to sign the legislation, which would delay its adoption by 15 days.