Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollar and his deputy Peter Pcolinsky of Sme Rodina share a laugh after the parliament approved the end of its term on September 30. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. A new government takes over in Slovakia this week, but the same old chaos reigns in parliament. Sme Rodina has proposed a change that would favour developers over residents and the environment. The Kuciak murder retrial nears its end. President Čaputová sues Robert Fico.
If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.
How to misuse parliament
It is important that the new government calms the political situation, says incoming prime minister Ľudovít Ódor, and observers nod in agreement. But with five months and only two regular sessions to go, parliament seems intent on achieving the exact opposite.
A recent legislative proposal from MPs belonging to the Sme Rodina party is a case in point. After Štefan Holý, the party’s nominee as deputy prime minister for legislation, managed to get a much-awaited new construction law passed last year, the party’s MPs are now advancing further amendments to align a number of laws with the reform. This is intended to bring about what they call a “revolution” in construction – but at the expense of environmental protection.
Outgoing environment minister Ján Budaj, who calls the law a monstrosity, said in an interview with the Sme daily that it has been the aim of Sme Rodina all along, but only now, in the semi-anarchy that reigns in parliament, were they able to push through the legislation, which environmentalists say will harm Slovakia’s natural environment and everyone who cares about it for many years to come. Budaj went so far as to say that this was an example of what the “Orbánisation” of Slovakia would look like – a reference to the right-wing populism and alleged cronyism that has dominated politics in neighbouring Hungary since 2010.
