Top politicians and other state officials will see their salaries increase by almost 7% this year, as the Chamber of Deputies again approved a controversial salary amendment yesterday, overriding a veto by President Petr Pavel.
The president returned the bill to MPs mainly because of concerns over judges’ salaries, which would be left essentially stagnant year-on-year.
Opposition representatives warned that the Constitutional Court would intervene in the law, as it did last year. The judges have previously announced that they intended to appeal to the court if the amendment was adopted. Opposition MPs from ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) argued for the freezing of salaries of top politicians.
To override the president’s veto, an absolute majority of all MPs (i.e. at least 101) was needed; 102 of the 193 MPs present voted in favour of the amendment, while 91 voted against.
The bill was supported by MPs from the ruling Civic Democrats (ODS), Mayors and Independents (STAN), Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and TOP 09, as well as unaffiliated MP Ivo Vondrak (formerly ANO). Members of ANO, SPD and the Pirate Party voted against the bill.
The president vetoed the amendment because he disagreed with how the government dealt with the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the salary amendment, to which the adopted law is supposed to respond, especially in relation to setting this year’s salary base for judges. He also criticised the law’s retroactivity, as it requires the salaries of public officials to be calculated from the beginning of this year.
Czech Labour and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurecka (KDU-CSL) described the adjustment for this year as a compromise. From next year, the previously-agreed automatic indexation mechanism will again become law, he told MPs. After the vote, he wrote on social media that the parliament’s decision had unblocked the current situation.
“You know in advance that the judges will challenge this again at the Constitutional Court,” Patrik Nacher (ANO) told the government. His party colleague Helena Valkova said the draft was “99.9% unconstitutional”, adding that “the Constitutional Court’s rulings are repeatedly disregarded.” Jakub Michalek, parliamentary leader of the Pirate Party, criticised the coalition for not taking into account the judges’ comments.
Debates on salary increases have been held in both chambers of Parliament. During the original lower house vote, ANO and SPD were unable to push through a freeze on the salaries of top politicians until the end of 2029. The president was urged to veto the amendment by the Judicial Union and the Union of Public Prosecutors. The Judicial Board has also criticised it.
The salaries are calculated on the basis of the salary base, which is the product of the average wage in the national economy in the preceding years and a statutory coefficient. In the last few years, salaries were frozen due to crisis situations. Last May, the Constitutional Court abolished the statutory coefficient with effect from this year as it would have been a reduction in judges’ salaries, permanently changing the coefficient from 3 to 2.822.
The amendment returns coefficient 3 to the law. However, it sets the salary bases for this year directly. For top politicians and other officials, it is CZK 101,364 a month and for judges it is CZK 121,685. Judges’ salaries would increase by 0.6%, since last year they were calculated on a monthly base of CZK 120,951 after the Constitutional Court intervened.
The draft also directly sets the salary base for state prosecutors at CZK 109,516.5 this year. The amendment also introduces a lump sum compensation for the spouse or partner of the President of the Republic, taken in practice from the lump sum compensation of the president.
During the original vote on the amendment, the Chamber of Deputies set a limit on the annual salary increase for top politicians and some other officials to no more than 5%. The cap will not apply to judges’ salaries. In addition, MPs and senators will have their salaries cut by a fifth if the state’s debt exceeds 50% of gross domestic product. In the draft, the MPs also more strictly limited politicians’ salaries when accumulating certain functions, including at the regional and municipal level.
