President Miloš Zeman signed an amendment to the pandemic law on Monday. The House of Commons decided to adopt it on Friday when it outvoted the Senate. The approval was accompanied by obstruction by SPD MPs and protests against some initiatives.
Zeman announced that he had no problem with the norm. The law regulates the issuance of anti-coronavirus measures and extends their effectiveness until November.
The government pushed for the law because of, among other things, the issuance of COVID certificates or testing in homes for the elderly. It also regulates the ordering of quarantine or isolation by phone or SMS. Most of the emergency measures issued under the pandemic law so far in force will expire before February 28, when they would have passed without the amendment.
The norm was pushed through by the ruling coalition of ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, Pirates, and STAN when most measures were being relaxed, which is why critics see it as redundant and unnecessary for the future. The Senate also rejected its adoption in the proposed form, and the ruling coalition had no choice but to push for its adoption by a supermajority.
The SPD movement has announced that it intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court over the norm and how it was discussed.