The lower house of the Czech parliament yesterday approved a proposal made by Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) to add Czech Flag Day to the list of nationally significant days, to be celebrated on 30 March.
MPs approved the proposal on an accelerated procedure in the first round.
Babis previously justified the planned amendment to the law on public holidays by saying that the national flag is a fundamental symbol of the Czech Republic and expresses its independence and sovereignty.
The proposal will now be discussed by the Senate.
“The national flag of the Czech Republic is a representative symbol of an independent and sovereign state in both international and domestic contexts,” said Babis, presenting his proposal. He also emphasised the value of the flag for citizens. “It is traditionally displayed and used as a symbol of national identity, the solidarity of the citizens of a given state, shared values, and pride in the citizenship of the state to which its inhabitants belong.”
According to Babis, the introduction of a new important day should strengthen pride in belonging to the Czech nation.
Babis spoke about the intention to establish a new significant day in his New Year’s speech. He chose the date based on the fact that the Czechoslovak flag was officially adopted on 30 March 1920.
Some opposition politicians said the bill was unnecessary. “I consider this proposal unnecessary and a political gesture that will not increase respect for the state symbol, as the flag is already respected,” said TOP 09 leader Matej Ondrej Havel.
However, another opposition MP, Petr Sokol (ODS) expressed support for the proposal. “The flag has played a key role since the interwar republic,” he said in the Chamber of Deputies.
Pirate Party leader Zdenek Hrib said he considered the creation of this significant day a good idea, although he argued it was just another attempt to divert attention.
The current Czech calendar includes 19 significant days. Unlike public holidays, these are normal working days.
The lower house also supported a change of the rules in laws on the drafting of the state budget yesterday. The change is based on a European directive and affects a number of laws, clarifying the rules for budget management in the event of a deterioration in the security situation.
The opposition accused the government of loosening budgetary responsibility with the proposal, which Finance Minister Alena Schillerova (ANO) denied. The purpose of the proposal is to ensure the sustainability of public finances in the medium and long term, she argued.
The government wanted the bill to be approved in an accelerated procedure yesterday, but the opposition parties vetoed it.
STAN MP Lucie Sedmihradska said the bill introduced a number of fairly significant changes to budgetary rules, which would weaken the role of the Chamber of Deputies in the budgetary process. Pirate MP Vendula Svobodova noted that the new instruments would allow the government to increase debt to over 60% of gross domestic product, but the formal debt indicator would show that everything was normal.
The last issue dealt with in yesterday’s parliamentary session was a government bill on the principles of public sector data management. MPs passed the bill in an accelerated procedure. Its authors say that the law is intended to contribute to more efficient data management. It establishes a single information point, the Digital Information Agency.
