Members of Parliament who hold chairmanships in some subcommittees of the Chamber of Deputies can claim an additional supplement of 21,000 crowns per month in addition to their existing salary. Of course, one would expect intensive work from the position of chairman on paper, but the reality is often completely different. A total of 63 subcommittees operate in the House of Representatives, among which we can find some whose activities cannot be described as anything but minimal. In the interests of fairness, however, it is also necessary to add that some chairpersons of subcommittees are not entitled to an additional payment if they are already receiving remuneration for another higher position.
Less than a million for Pestová
Berenika Peštová, member of parliament for the ANO movement, who previously worked as deputy minister of the environment, can serve as an example. Pestová pushed for the creation of a subcommittee for EU environmental legislation.
However, this new body met only once during the entire electoral period, specifically in March 2022. During the meeting, the MPs discussed four points, for example the election of a vice-president and the planning of actions in the field of the environment. The committee did not carry out any other visible activity, but even so, Peštová already received about 700 thousand crowns in additional payments.
However, Pestová claims that she also performs her work in a different way. She is said to have organized five public seminars focused on environmental directives that are currently being discussed in the European Parliament. He argues that the seminars will reach a wider audience because the subcommittees are closed to the public. However, the subcommittee does not intend to dissolve it so that it can patronize the seminars and not be dependent on the decision of the chairperson of the committee, who is from the coalition.
Other examples of inaction
Another ANO MP, Michal Ratiborský, works in a similar style. He originally chaired the subcommittee for development cooperation, which met only four times during the entire period. He was later assigned to lead the Subcommittee on Defense, Cyber, and Security Policy. Given the current situation in Ukraine and the revision of Czech defense strategies, the body should meet actively, but in reality its members met only twice. Ratiborský defends himself, saying that organizational problems in the House of Representatives and collisions with extraordinary meetings are to blame.
Some MPs do not even try to lie and admit that the activities of the subcommittees are often minimal. For example, the chairman of the defense committee, Lubomír Metnar, said that one of the subcommittee meetings took place in a one-man style, as only the chairman arrived and no one else. At the same time, Metnar added that strategic documents can also be discussed at the level of the main committee, thus indirectly communicating that the existence of some subcommittees simply has no logical justification.
It goes even better
But we also have to look at the other side of the coin – we also find examples of MPs who really work in their subcommittees. For example, Patrik Nacher from the ANO movement regularly convenes a subcommittee for consumer protection every month (except holidays). In addition, Nacher does this for free because he is already getting paid for another feature.
Coalition MPs and their sub-committees
Not even the coalition MPs are without butter on their heads. For example, the subcommittee for public health, epidemiology and prevention led by Romana Bělohlávková from the KDU-ČSL met only four times. Michaela Šebelová from STAN chairs the subcommittee for specialized and professional education, science and research, which met only three times. Šebelová adds that some subcommittees simply do not have much to do, while others have so much that they deserve to be separate committees.
Source: zpravy.tiscali.cz
