“The amendment introduces new conditions for early retirement without any transition period. When this proposal was approved by the government, there was a transitional period of 13 months, so citizens could decide to leave within a five-year limit. It was changed by an amendment proposed by the People’s Deputy Vít Kaňkovský, who is also the chairman of the social committee. This is a paradox,” said Alena Schillerová, chairwoman of the ANO parliamentary club, on Wednesday shortly after the complaint was filed.
“We believe that if you want to retire early, you decide for months or years, not on a Sunday night. Now the way it is set, and with the effectivity of the law, the conditions change from five years to three, we consider this to be completely inadequate,” she added.
According to ANO, it also bothers her that the government coalition set a fixed voting time during the final vote, when roughly 36 MPs still wanted to make a speech. “This is a complete violation of democratic principles,” she added.
It is Black Friday for the Czech economy, criticizes the opposition to the approval of the package
At the same time, Schiller said that ANO is also considering challenging the consolidation package at the Constitutional Court. She added, however, that in this case there are still two safeguards – the Senate and President Petr Pavel, who will still deal with the package.
Since May, the Constitutional Court has already had a ANO proposal to cancel part of the government amendment on shortening the June valorization of pensions. The movement is bothered by the retroactivity of the one-time adjustment of the valorization mechanism, which took place only after the legal right to payment had arisen, which, they say, “clearly violated legitimate expectations and the principle of certainty.”
“It’s not just a fight for roughly three million pensioners, but I see it as a fight for the basic principles of the rule of law. In any democratic society, the governing majority cannot arbitrarily proceed in violation of the Constitution and heal its own incompetence on the most vulnerable group of the population,” said Alena Schillerová, head of ANO deputies at the time, who described the law as “shameful.”
At the time, even President Petr Pavel admitted doubts about the constitutional conformity of the amendment. He did sign it, but stated that he would turn to the Constitutional Court himself if someone else did not do so.
The government decided to change the extraordinary valuation due to the necessary savings in the state budget, which will save 194 billion crowns for this year alone.
Baxa: The complaint about pensions may be discussed publicly by the Constitutional Court
Tags: ANO filed complaint Constitutional Court due tightening rules early retirement
