Church restitution vote blocked by opposition

Prague, June 20 (CTK) - The Czech Chamber of Deputies did not complete the final reading of the government's bill on property settlement between the state and churches Wednesday, as the leftist opposition used filibustering to prevent the key vote.

The Chamber will probably resume the debate on the bill on Friday.

The senior opposition Social Democrats (CSSD), if they came to power after the next elections, would negotiate with churches on reducing the financial compensation the state plans to provide to churches for their formerly confiscated property, CSSD head Bohuslav Sobotka and CSSD deputies' group chairman Jeronym Tejc told journalists.

Tejc said the CSSD would try to maximally obstruct the Chamber of Deputies' ongoing final reading of the government's bill on the church property return so that the definitive decision on it is not passed before September.

The CSSD previously said it wants to use filibustering to delay the crucial vote for as long as possible. It has also blocked the chance of the Chamber discussing the bill in other times than Wednesday and Friday till 14:00, which are designed for third reading debates.

After the bill is passed by the government majority in third reading, it is expected to be rejected by the CSSD-dominated Senate. The Chamber of Deputies would have to override the Senate's veto to make the bill definitively through.

The CSSD may drop its plan of obstructions only if the Chamber postponed the vote on the bill till July. If so, the Chamber's repeated vote, after the Senate's veto, could take place on September 4 or 5, said Tejc.

By delaying the final vote, the CSSD wants to gain more time for discussing the issue with government deputies and also enable people to voice their opinion, he said.

Under the bill on which the right-wing government and 17 churches agreed last autumn, the churches are to get back more than a half of the property that was confiscated from them under the Czechoslovak communist regime, worth about 75 billion crowns. In addition, 59 billion crowns are to be paid to them in compensation for the rest over a period of 30 years starting next year. Inflation could raise the sum up to nearly 100 billion crowns.

Simultaneously, the state will gradually cease to finance churches. The transitional period is to last 17 years.

Sobotka Wednesday said the financial compensation should be subject to further negotiations if the CSSD came to power.

"I think our government could start negotiations with churches with the aim to reduce the compensation sum," Sobotka said.

The CSSD considers the sum "inappropriate," as no other restitution claimant has ever been granted so generous compensation so far.

The government's proposal is also disapproved by a large part of the public, according to opinion polls.

Tejc said there is a number of arguments [against the bill] and that opposition deputies will stand up against it actively in the Chamber's ongoing debate.

The CSSD leadership has bound its deputies and senators not to support the church restitution bill.