Civil service bill passed by Senate

The Czech Senate on Wednesday approved the draft of a new law aimed at depoliticizing and making more efficient the country’s civil service. Forty-one of 71 senators voted in favour. The bill was approved without changes following two hours of debate. The legislation is a compromise with the centre-right opposition, with the government having agreed to drop a provision to create a top civil servant whose office would control the entire system. The new bill also includes a provision under which every minister will have at most two deputies who are political appointees. The later has repeatedly been criticised by President Miloš Zeman. The president has warned MPs that he will take the civil service bill to the Constitutional Court if a veto does not suffice.

Author: Jan Velinger