The Slovak parliament approved the law on a 50-day moratorium on pre-election polls on November 26, 2019 (source: TASR)
The parliament has approved the extended 50-day moratorium on pre-election polls, even though some coalition MPs previously claimed they would not have voted for it.
The law is set to become effective as of January and should apply to the upcoming parliamentary election. This means that poll results can no longer be published after January 10.
President Zuzana Čaputová said she will file a motion to the Constitutional Court and ask it to suspend the law. She suggested she would do so when she announced she was returning the law to the parliament last month. The President has expressed her concerns about the constitutionality of the law.
“The President is, of course, entitled to turn to the Constitutional Court, but this is a misunderstanding of political reality,” Smer chair Robert Fico said, as quoted by TASR. He said that if Čaputová moves against the law, he will consider it opposition politics.
A total of 80 MPs supported the law on November 26. Most of them are members of the ruling parties Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS). The bill was also supported by all members of the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS)
In addition, the law was supported by three Sme Rodina renegades around Peter Marček, who have been voting for coalition proposals in the long run, three former ĽSNS deputies and one Most-Híd MP.
