Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulík said on Tuesday, May 31, that he was happy to see that all coalition MPs present in the House – except for Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) MP Július Stanko – voting in favour of abolishing the 'misdemeanour immunity' enjoyed by MPs, thereby passing the bill to its second reading, the TASR newswire reported.
Sulík said that he did not understand why Stanko had withdrawn his electronic voting card before the vote, a move that made him 'invisible' and thus unregistered for the vote. The speaker noted that the yes votes of two former opposition SNS – now independent – MPs, Anna Belousovová and Rudolf Pučík, had "had their weight, too". Sulík said he believes the bill will definitely be passed after its next parliamentary reading, allowing the coalition to keep its pre-election pledge to scrap MPs’ immunity from misdemeanours such as speeding fines.
"The fact that an MP drives after having drunk alcohol, that MPs can park in places which aren't allowed, or in spaces set aside for invalids, is not related to carrying out their functions as MPs. MPs certainly do not need this to do their jobs," Belousovová said before the vote, as quoted by TASR.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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