Prague, April 8 (CTK) – The Czech right-wing opposition has lodged a constitutional complaint against what it considers the government’s irregular way of pushing through its bill on e-registration of sales (EET) in February by cutting the lower house’s debate on it, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes today.
The Civic Democrats (ODS) and TOP 09 lodged their complaint with the Constitutional Court (US) on Tuesday, the paper writes.
They say the centre-left government coalition acted at variance with the Chamber of Deputies’ order of procedure when it cut the debate on the bill that is crucial for it but meets with a strong criticism from the opposition.
The complaint has been submitted on behalf of the two parties by former justice minister Pavel Blazek (ODS).
The opposition cannot achieve the abolition of the EET law by the US. It wants the US to scrap the Chamber’s decisions that resulted in the bill’s passage on February 10.
“Yes, I’ve lodged a complaint. I believe it has a big chance to succeed. We will release details next week,” Blazek told MfD.
According to the text of the complaint that the daily has at its disposal, Blazek challenges three decisions by the lower house. Above all, he complains about the government coalition having cut the EET debate prematurely through a number of deputies still wanted to join it and their speeches had been duly registered beforehand.
Blazek’s complaint also challenges the approval of the EET bill and the way the relevant session was led by Chamber of Deputies’ chairman Jan Hamacek (government Social Democrats, CSSD).
The ODS and TOP 09 demand the questioning of not only Hamacek, but also Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO), heads of the deputies’ groups of the three government parties, and lower house deputy chairwoman Jaroslava Jermanova (ANO), who previously admitted that the order of procedure might have been violated in connection with the EET’s passage, the daily writes.
In his complaint, Blazek writes about “an organised conspiracy aimed to violate the rights” of the opposition, the paper writes.
In late 2015 and early 2016, the right-wing opposition repeatedly, for a total of 25 hours, used filibustering to obstruct the passage of the EET bill. At the extraordinary session the government convoked for February 10, the government cut the debate and said in explanation that all lawmakers had had enough time to comment on the EET and that the speakers started repeating themselves in their repeated speeches.
In the meantime, the EET bill has been passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, and signed by President Milos Zeman. It is to take effect as from December, binding companies and small tradespeople to use automatic cash registers.
The government expects the EET to reduce tax evasion and remedy conditions in the business sector.
The rightist opposition warns that the EET would bring many small businessess to a collapse.
