The opening of the extraordinary parliamentary session was accompanied by verbal exchanges

Prague – The parliamentary lectern was occupied by opposition leaders for about 1.5 hours in the morning before today’s extraordinary meeting called at the initiative of the coalition. They criticized the government, for example, because of the health care situation and because of energy prices. The opening of the Lower Chamber meeting was also accompanied by verbal exchanges after the SPD chairman Tomio Okamura’s speech. The coalition included the approval of eight drafts on the agenda of the meeting. It is not certain whether the deputies will have time to vote on all the proposals. Approval of laws is possible today according to the rules of procedure until 2:00 p.m.

Okamura spoke critically about the fact that, according to him, the deadlines for awarding pensions are still being exceeded, the healthcare sector is in danger of collapsing in connection with doctors’ overtime. Okamura called after the departure of the Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09), but also the Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (ODS) because of her call for the Czech Republic to withdraw from the United Nations. The chairman of the SPD dwelled on the procedure against disinformation and also talked about other topics. “Not a penny for Ukraine. We insist on it,” he declared in his speech.

The chairman of the People’s Club, Aleš Dufek, then advised Okamura to visit the contact center before “placing negations” and told the Ukrainians in the queue to their faces that Ukraine and Ukrainians should not receive a single crown. The deputy speaker of the lower house, Jan Bartošek (KDU-ČSL), responded to the statement of the chairman of the SPD, in which he connected the KDU-ČSL with the Sudeton German expatriate association. Bartošek pointed to the SPD’s “relatively intensive cooperation” with the German Alternative for Germany (AfD), which, according to Bartošek, is described as an extreme right-wing party.

Černochová did not leave Okamura’s speech without a response either, when she stated that Okamura is probably not afraid of the wave of anti-Semitism. “Anti-Semitism is resurging throughout the world, including the United Nations,” she declared. Okamura responded that he was “blabbering complete nonsense”. “We are all here against anti-Semitism,” he emphasized, and declared Černochová a “crazy” and “disgusting person.” Banging on the benches was then heard from the hall. Bartošek told Okamur that his behavior towards Černochová was inappropriate. “A rough patch for a rough sack. You’re a nasty fellow, too,” he said.

The president of the ANO club, Alena Schillerová, spoke again about the fact that, in her opinion, the draft state budget for next year is based on unrealistic starting points and assumptions with regard to new, worsened economic growth forecasts. Karel Havlíček, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives for ANO, focused on energy, who reminded that the movement wants to call an extraordinary meeting. “We’re really going to make hell here. That’s not a threat,” he said.

According to Havlíček, the government “fatally underestimates” the energy situation. According to him, it transfers 38 billion crowns for the distribution and transmission of electricity and another 26 billion crowns for renewable sources to customers. “The budget will be saved by the state transferring payments to residents and companies,” he said. According to the head of the SPD club, Radim Fiala, energy prices are a big problem not only for residents, but especially for companies. “It is absolutely necessary to immediately withdraw from the EU’s single energy market and start selling Czech electricity preferentially at affordable prices in the so-called social tariff to Czech consumers,” he said.

Czech Republic House of Economy meeting