President Pavel To Decide Whether To Sign Pension Bill This Afternoon

Czech President Petr Pavel said that he will comment on the government's controversial pension bill this afternoon after he discussed the matter with Alena Schillerova and Karel Havlicek, senior lawmakers from the main opposition ANO party.

• Schillerova and Havlicek sought to persuade Pavel to veto legislation designed to slow the automatic increase in pensions, with the government pushing for a swift adoption of the bill in order to reduce spending this year.
• ANO lawmakers said that the President "is the last hope and guarantor of constitutionality" and announced that if Pavel refuses to veto the legislation, they would take the bill to the Constitutional Court.
• Havlicek called the meeting "very constructive" but admitted that the final decision "is up to him," adding that he believes that the President has not yet taken the decision about whether to veto the reform.
• The lower house can override a presidential veto by an absolute majority of votes but would be unlikely to do it on time for the bill to be approved by March 22, which is necessary if the bill was to take effect this June.