Representatives of the Ordinary People (OL) faction will give up their MPs' mandates if they leave the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) caucus within this electoral term, according to an agreement between SaS and OL presented to the media at a press conference on Monday, August 2.
According to Ordinary People head Igor Matovič, the four OL-member MPs, who were elected in June via the SaS party list, agreed the deal so that nobody could cast doubt on their support for the coalition, of which SaS is a part.
"Meeting agreements is fundamental to any good cooperation. That's why I, Richard Sulík [SaS leader], with the knowledge of Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, declare that the SaS programme will be extended by the points in OL's programme that SaS agrees with," reads the agreement between SaS and OL, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Sulík claims that he has done all he can to promote OL's proposals within the coalition and that he'll submit them at the next revision of the government programme. "This promise replaces the original agreement with OL, which, unfortunately, wasn't kept," said Sulík. Uncertainty emerged in late July over whether OL deputies would support the government programme if their policies were not included. Their votes are necessary to secure the coalition's narrow majority.
Matovič said he realised that it is rather late to make changes to the government manifesto, which is heading to parliament for approval, but he sees an opportunity at its first revision. When it comes to the points that have a chance of gaining SaS's support, Sulík mentioned the proposal to create a direct link between MPs' attendance records in parliament and their salaries, and the scrapping of golden parachutes for lawmakers, mayors and local councillors. The idea of OL creating its own party is not appropriate now, Matovič added.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
