Czech government scraps bills put forth by previous cabinet

The new centre-left Czech government on Monday scrapped several bills put forth by the previous interim cabinet. The draft legislation that has been withdrawn includes a civil service bill, a bill on army reserve as well as legislation re-introducing fees for hospital stays, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told reporters. Mr Sobotka said that instead of the scrapped civil service legislation, Parliament will debate a Social Democrat bill that was approved by MPs in a first round of debate last month. The Sobotka government, appointed to office by President Zeman last week, is expected to seek confidence in the lower house on February 18th.