On Saturday evening, delegates of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia(KSČM) decided that outgoing party deputies should give half of their severance pay to the party treasury because of the KSČM’s difficult financial situation.
For example, former party chair Vojtěch Filip, as a former first deputy speaker of the lower house, will receive more than CZK 912 000 for his four-year mandate. He should thus give the party approximately CZK 456 000 from his severance pay. However, this request is not enforceable, and it is questionable how many of the outgoing MPs are willing to accept it.
“It was an appeal and a request. Of course, we are aware that we have no power to ask MPs to do that, ” Kateřina Konečná, who was elected the new chair of the KSČM, said on Saturday. “It’s about a moral appeal because the party will have to make considerable financial savings,” she added. The KSČM won 3.6 percent of the vote in the October elections, losing all 15 incumbent MPs who were entitled to severance pay.
The severance pay is calculated on the gross salary multiplied by the number of years served in the lower house plus one extra salary. At this time, the salary of an MP is CZK 90 800. The severance pay is increased according to the other functions in the Chamber and is paid three months after leaving the Chamber.