Ruling coalition pushing vote on controversial pensions bill

A parliament debate on a government proposal to lower the indexation of old age pensions in order to save public finances in the years to come has gone into its fourth day in the lower house. The opposition has been filibustering since Tuesday in an effort to delay the bill, but a vote on the controversial proposal is expected on Friday or Saturday.

Opposition parties are accusing the government of hurting the most vulnerable group of society and threaten to challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court if it is approved.

According to existing legislation a mandatory indexing of old-age pensions takes effect according to the given level of inflation, but inflation is now so high that the ruling parties say state coffers can no longer afford the burden. The ruling coalition needs to get the bill approved by both houses and signed into law by the president by March 22 for it to be able to take effect this year.