It is expected that the old-age pensions of the prominent figures of the former communist regime will decrease in the Czech Republic. The bill submitted by the government was approved by the lower house of the parliament on Friday. The proposal will now go before the Senate, where the government coalition also has a modest majority.
The bill, which would enter into force in March 2024, defines in detail the former positions whose holders will be affected by the pension reduction. According to the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, it is about 3,000 people.
Among other things, the pension reduction will apply to the members and candidates of the Central Committee of the former Communist Party, the presidents of the parliament and local national committees, the leaders of the military prosecution, high-ranking soldiers, policemen and commanders of the People's Militia (Workers' Guard). The exact list of names is developed by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Systems.
300 crowns (4,950 forints) would be deducted from the person's pension for each year spent or started in the position.
It is a symbolic reduction, because no one's pension should be reduced below the average pension, which is currently around 18,000 crowns (297,000 forints) per month, Pavel Zácek, the chairman of the security committee of the House of Representatives, stated in the parliament.
Several opposition representatives criticized the bill, according to them it would have been authorized immediately after the regime change in 1989.
"The bill is populism on the part of the government coalition. I don't want to defend communism or communists. However, such a step should have been taken immediately after the overthrow of socialism, because now it affects people who are very old, over 90," said Berenika Pestová, a representative of the opposition ANO movement.
MTI
Photo: bystricoviny.sk
