Czech parliament approves pension reform in victory for PM Necas

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The lower house of the Czech parliament on Wednesday cleared the way for pension reform to get underway next year, giving its final approval to legislation that will allow change, a victory for the country's unpopular and unstable government.

The lower house chose to ignore President Vaclav Klaus who had vetoed the reform bills in a vote that will in time permit Czechs to divert part of their social security payments to private pension accounts from state ones.