Lower house speaker declares state of legislative emergency

Lower house speaker Miroslava Němcová on Friday declared a state of legislative emergency from November 1-15, allowing government reform bills to be fast-tracked though the lower chamber. In the course of that fortnight the centre-right coalition hopes to push through the lower chamber four bills which form the backbone of its austerity plans for 2011. Prime Minister Petr Nečas requested a state of legislative emergency following the Social Democrats victory in last week’s Senate elections, which will give the opposition the power to delay the government’s reform plans.