Only a Minority of Czech MPs Draw a Base Salary Without Bonuses — Fiala and Kupka Among Them

In the Czech Chamber of Deputies, most lawmakers receive extra pay on top of their base salary for holding posts in party clubs, committees, subcommittees and commissions. Only a handful go without any such bonuses — among them former Prime Minister Petr Fiala, along with MPs Martin Kupka and Jan Lipavský.

The Pirate Party fares worst on this front: of its 18-member caucus, exactly half — nine deputies — hold no paid positions at all, most of them newcomers to parliament. Former Regional Development Minister Ivan Bartoš draws a bonus as deputy chairman of the caucus, while party leader Zdeněk Hřib serves as deputy chair of the transport subcommittee.

The same number of MPs without posts — nine — can be found in the 80-seat ANO caucus, including, among others, Olomouc Region Governor Ladislav Okleštěk.

In ODS, four deputies are left without bonuses: besides Fiala, Kupka and Lipavský already mentioned, there is also Libor Hoppe. Unlike his former cabinet colleagues, former Interior Minister and STAN leader Vít Rakušan — having failed to secure the coveted post of Deputy Speaker of the Chamber — managed to get elected to the paid position of deputy chairman of the STAN caucus instead.

Among STAN's 22 deputies, four newly elected women remain without extra pay: Anežka Nedomová, Eliška Olšáková, Julie Smejkalová and Adriana Hochelová.

In the 16-member Christian Democrat caucus, only one deputy missed out on a post — Jan Bartošek, who last year unsuccessfully ran against Tomio Okamura (SPD) for the position of Chamber Speaker. Similarly, the sole deputy in the 15-seat SPD caucus without a position is Josef Nerušil, who took his parliamentary seat after Markéta Šichtařová's resignation.

Meanwhile, a full sweep in securing paid posts was achieved by the nine-member TOP 09 caucus and all 13 deputies from the Motorists.

Under the current rules, a deputy's base salary — before bonuses and allowances that together can add up to tens of thousands of crowns a month — stands at 115,000 crowns this year. A deputy subcommittee chair receives an extra 11,700 crowns a month, a subcommittee chair or committee deputy chair gets 23,500 crowns, while a committee, caucus, delegation or commission chair is entitled to a monthly bonus of 47,000 crowns. Deputy caucus chairs receive additional pay depending on the size of their caucus — 23,500 crowns for every 15 members.

The Chamber of Deputies has eight caucuses in total, each with its own chairman. STAN and ODS each elected six paid deputy chairs, while ANO and the Christian Democrats elected five each. The Pirates have three deputy chairs, and the Motorists and TOP 09 have two apiece. The SPD caucus, aside from its chairman Radim Fiala, elected no one else to leadership posts.

Parliament currently has 18 committees, each with one chairman and two to six deputy chairs. In addition, there are 53 subcommittees, many of whose usefulness raises eyebrows. The subcommittee on heraldry and vexillology, for instance, chaired by Christian Democrat Jiří Vojáček, has held just a single meeting since the October elections — back in March. In September, five of its members are planning an off-site meeting in Harrachov.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz