Meeting of President Petr Pavel with representatives of the ANO movement on the planned reduction of the June valorization of pensions, March 15, 2023, Hrzánský palác, Prague.
Prague – After today's meeting with representatives of the ANO movement, President Petr Pavel has not yet decided whether he will sign the controversial government amendment to reduce the valuation of pensions. He said this to the Deník.cz server this morning. According to him, both the government and the opposition have enough relevant arguments. He wants to announce his final opinion at an afternoon press conference in Hrzánský palác, where he is temporarily based.
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“I'm still not decided because there are enough relevant arguments on both sides,” he said. According to him, the process is also complicated by emotions and a number of different errors and incorrect decisions. He did not want to discuss who is behind the errors.
He reiterated that the problem does not have an inherently good solution, only bad and less bad solutions. “Whatever my decision will be, it will always negatively affect a relatively large group of people,” he noted. According to him, the matter will not only affect pensioners, but also other citizens who are in a difficult social and economic situation, such as single people or people with disabilities. He also pointed out that such a drastic increase in pensions will increase the bases from which other pensions will be calculated. “And that, of course, will mean a threat to the budget for all citizens of this country,” he added.
He said that he is not only assessing economic and constitutional-legal criteria, but “ordinary human” ones, how the measure will “affect whom” and how it will affect the credibility of state institutions and politicians. He also reminded that constitutional lawyers do not agree on how the Constitutional Court, to which the opposition wants to turn, would approach the issue. He said that if the constitutional judges rejected the amendment, the Czech Republic would find itself in a complicated legal and economic situation.
He wants to present his opinion this afternoon at 4:15 p.m. many people will not be satisfied. Negotiations with the ANO movement took place between 09:00 and 10:00 in the Hrzánský palác, the interview with the server was subsequently created.
According to the amendment, pensions are to increase by an average of 760 crowns during the extraordinary June valorization. According to the currently valid legal rules, it would be 1770 crowns on average. The Cabinet justifies the reduction by efforts to stabilize public finances this year and in the following years. The amendment has already been approved by the deputies and the Senate, and only the president's signature is missing. If Pavel vetoes the law, the House of Representatives will probably not have time to override his veto in time. The government points out that the draft must be published in the collection by March 22, which is the last day for the issuance of the government order to increase pensions in June according to the current rules. The third possibility of Paul's course of action is that he will leave the law unsigned and vetoed. The amendment would thus enter into force, but it would probably only happen after March 22.
Havlíček believes that Pavel has not yet decided on the valorization of pensions
The first vice-chairman of the ANO opposition movement, Karel Havlíček, believes that President Petr Pavel has not yet definitively decided on his position on the controversial government amendment on the reduced valuation of pensions. Pavel told journalists today that the public will learn his decision this afternoon. Havlíček described today's meeting with the head of state as constructive, in addition to various aspects of the proposal, ANO also presented its own solution of an economic nature, he told journalists after the meeting in the Hrzánský palác. crowns. According to the currently valid legal rules, it would be 1770 crowns on average. The Cabinet justifies the reduction by efforts to stabilize public finances this year and in the following years.
According to him, the government overslept, it should have resolved the situation in time, not discuss the amendment in the House of Representatives in a state of legislative emergency. In ANO's opinion, retroactivity is also inadmissible. According to Havlíček, the June valuation should be based on the currently valid legal rules, and it should be an adjustment of the valuation formula for next year.
“We believe that it is not definitively decided at this moment,” said Havlíček regarding Pavlov's position. According to Schiller, the most fundamental problem is retroactivity. “We are convinced according to the substantive legal regulation that the claim arose on January 31, all other data already speak of clarification in the form of a government decree,” she noted. If the law were to pass, people's trust in the state would be undermined, he believes.
According to Havlíček, Pavel was asking about a solution of an economic nature that the ANO movement would have. The vice-chairman of the movement noted that the state will have extraordinary income this year, either from taxes, from ČEZ or due to inflation.
Schillerová repeated that if the president signs the amendment, YES she will definitely turn to the Constitutional Court. He believes that he will not cooperate with the other opposition movement SPD on this, even though the ANO parliamentary club has not yet discussed it. If Pavel does not sign the law, ANO wants to prevent the House from re-adopting the amendment.
Ministers believe that Pavel will decide on valorization according to the facts presented by the coalition
Ministers for regional development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) and transport Martin Kupka (ODS) believe that President Petr Pavel will decide after mature consideration on the amendment on the reduced June valorization of pensions based on the facts presented by the coalition. They told journalists today when they arrived at the government meeting. Pavel will comment on the matter this afternoon, in the morning he met with representatives of the opposition ANO. The first vice-chairman of the movement, Karel Havlíček, believes that the president has not yet been definitively decided. The bill has already been approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
According to Bartoš, it is correct that the president deals with the parties represented in the House of Representatives. He appreciated that he heard economic arguments from the government's position as well, for example, what effect valorization has on future budgets or how its increase accumulates. “I believe that he will decide after mature consideration based on the facts that we presented as a coalition,” he noted.
Kupka is also convinced that the coalition has presented enough arguments for “this necessary step.” If the government did not act on this, the Czech economy could be threatened, and in the following years it would mean consequences in the amount of tens to hundreds of billions of crowns, he believes.
According to the Minister of Transport, the government is also preparing for alternatives in the event that the president vetoes the proposal and does not manage to approve it in time. The general pension reform would also have to be adapted to this, he believes.
Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Helena Langšádlová (TOP 09) said that the government was assured during the discussion of the law that its procedure was in accordance with the constitution.
According to the amendment, pensions are to increase by an average of 760 crowns during the extraordinary June valorization. According to the currently valid legal rules, it would be 1770 crowns on average. The Cabinet justifies the reduction by efforts to stabilize public finances this year and in the following years.
Pavel previously told Czech Television that it would be correct for the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutional aspects of the amendment. If he were to veto it, the House would probably not have time to override his position in time. The cabinet points out that the draft must be in the collection by March 22, which is the last day for the issuance of the government order to increase pensions in June according to the current rules.
