?TK |
22 December 2011
Prague, Dec 21 (CTK) - Ministers for the Public Affairs (VV, a minor coalition member) refused to support the bill on state-church property settlement yesterday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) has told journalists.
The debate will be interrupted until the next government meeting, Necas said, adding that the payment of financial compensation was yet to be fully specified.
"Nevertheless, I expect the bill to be passed on January 4," Necas said.
Necas refused to comment on the VV having rejected the bill. VV ministers argued that they wanted to know where the state would get the money for the funding of the settlement.
Necas said the content of the legislation had been agreed on in the coalition.
"For me, it is incredible manoeuvring after a year of joint work and repeated confirmation that this is really a joint agreement," Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, first deputy chairman of TOP 09, a member of the three-party coalition government, has told CTK.
Deputy Prime Minister for the VV, Karolina Peake, told CTK that VV ministers raised again the question in the government of where the state would get the money for the settlement.
They also demand that ministers in charge of economic affairs meet again and discuss the issue.
As the obligations will extend over 30 years into future, the question where future governments will get the money for it should not be resolved now, Peake said.
"But the government should make it clear where it will get the money from for the purpose in 2013 and 2014 at least," she added.
Peake said the VV respected and supported the coalition pact.
Necas said at present the state budget was spending some 1.4 billion crowns on churches annually. If the legislation were passed, it would be one billion more, he added.
Necas said within the context of the entire budget, the sum was not of primary importance.
Necas indicated on Sunday that the documentation on the bill would be submitted by new Culture Minister Alena Hanakova, whose office is in charge of church issues, and that she might want to get more acquainted with the key legislation.
President Vaclav Klaus appointed Hanakova on Tuesday. She said previously she considered the bill on state-church property settlement her priority.
The bill's wording was prepared by her predecessor Jiri Besser.
After the government approves the bill, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the lower and upper houses of parliament, must vote on it.
The government has not reached agreement on the bill with the leftist opposition that commands a majority in the Senate.
In October, the government approved the outlines of a property settlement with churches within which the state is to pay 59 billion crowns over 30 years and return 56 percent of the property the former Czechoslovak authorities confiscated from the churches after the 1948 communist coup.
Not only churches but also towns and villages expect the legislation to improve their situation.
Some 500 self-rule bodies have problems with the freezing of the church property, primarily land, which they would like to use. Municipal authorities must therefore postpone or change their construction and reconstruction plans.
Last week, the Government Legislative Council rejected the proposal for stocktaking of the church property, confiscated under the communist regime, before its return to the churches.
($1=19.498 crowns)
Copyright 2011 by the Czech News Agency (?TK). All rights reserved.
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