Senators considering first ever emergency session for Lisbon approval

The upper house of parliament may be convening for an emergency session to force a vote on the Lisbon Treaty, the Civic Democrat Senator Jiří Stříteský said on Tuesday. Such a convention would be the first in the chamber’s history. The Social Democratic Party is moving to get Lisbon ratification on the Senate agenda through the standard process. Nonetheless, the party has insisted on an April Senate vote and has stated that they have the necessary signatures of all party senators to potentially convene an emergency session. The execution of such a session is however a difficult endeavour in terms of timing and practicality, and head of the Senate Přemysl Sobotka has stated his own view that convening it would be technically impossible. The Czech Republic is one of four EU member states that have yet to fully ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The Czech Chamber of Deputies passed the treaty in February; Senate approval is still required before the Treaty can be signed by the president and ratified.