Coalition MPs thwart extraordinary session initiated by Smer

Coalition MPs on Thursday, march 17, blocked an unscheduled parliamentary session initiated by the opposition Smer party to debate a series of legislative proposals it had put forward.

Coalition MPs on Thursday, march 17, blocked an unscheduled parliamentary session initiated by the opposition Smer party to debate a series of legislative proposals it had put forward.

Fifty-eight deputies voted for the session, 46 were against and 21 MPs refrained from voting, the SITA newswire wrote. Smer deputies presented a banner immediately after the voting that they said described the price growth spurt since parliamentary elections last year, in which Smer lost power. They also handed over packets of pasta and flour to Speaker Richard Sulík (Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)) and Deputy Speakers Béla Bugár (Most-Híd) and Milan Hort (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)), in mocking reference to a government plan to distribute free food to people living below the poverty line in Slovakia.

Smer wanted to push through a special bank levy of 0.73 percent on selected liabilities of banks, return the basic VAT rate to 19 percent, reintroduce the 6-percent VAT rate on direct sale of farm produce abolished by the current government, and ban the privatisation of heating companies.

Source: SITA

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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