Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has accused President Klaus of
damaging the country by vetoing the government’s pension reform bill.
Speaking in New York, where he is attending a session of the UN General
Assembly, the Czech foreign minister said the pension reform should have
been effected 15 years ago and delaying it further was putting an immense
burden on the state budget. President Klaus on Monday vetoed the bill on
the grounds that the government had failed to secure consensus on the
reforms among experts, politicians and the broad public. The bill must now
go back to the chamber of deputies where the governing coalition will need
to secure 101 votes to override the president’s veto. Since the
government no longer has a majority in the lower house this may prove
highly problematic.