Labour minister to push ahead with pension reform

The new labour minister, Petr Šimerka, took up office on Monday pledging to push ahead with the pension reform. Minister Šimerka, who took over from Petr Nečas of the Civic Democrats, said the pension reform was a long-term project which necessitated broad political consensus and could therefore be taken further by the interim administration. Minister Šimerka said work on the new labour code would also continue over the summer. Political analysts are skeptical regarding the interim government’s action capability, saying that any decisions made will have to win support from the two strongest parties in Parliament.