President Pavel will make his stand on pensions bill public next week

President Pavel will make public his stand on the controversial government proposal to reduce the June indexation of pensions, which is guaranteed by law, after a meeting with representatives of the opposition ANO party due to take place next Wednesday. Pavel confirmed this in an interview for Czech Television shortly after taking office on Thursday. His stand is decisive because if he uses his right of veto the lower house would not have the time needed to overturn it and it would not go into effect. Asked whether he had already made up his mind, Pavel replied that there were so many legitimate reservations to the bill that it was proving to be a hard decision. The opposition ANO party has indicated that if the president signs the bill into law, they will challenge it in the Constitutional Court.