Prime Minister Robert Fico failed to convince a sufficient number of MPs on the parliamentary committee for constitutional law on February 23 to recommend approval of his proposal for a constitutional amendment that is closely linked to his law on proving the origin of property, the TASR newswire wrote.
A so-called constitutional majority was required for the amendment to be recommended, or the support of at least eight of the ten MPs present at the committee session, TASR wrote. Three MPs - Katarína Tóthová (Movement for Demoratic Slovakia, HZDS), Jakub Gajdošík (Slovak National Party/SNS) and Lucia Žitňanská (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, SDKÚ) abstained from voting.
The coalition and opposition alike wanted to amend the wording related to which kinds of property do not enjoy constitutional protection, the SITA newswire wrote. In the original cabinet proposal, “protection is not applied to property acquired at odds with the law.” According to opposition deputy Daniel Lipšic of the KDH, this could lead to the interpretation that today property enjoys protection. Jana Laššáková, of the strongest coalition party Smer, also suggested changing the wording of the draft bill, but in a different way. HZDS MP Katarína Tothova thinks that current laws are sufficient in resolving the issue of property origin.
Premier Fico claimed that SDKÚ isn't committed to approving an act on proving the origin of one's property. According to Žitňanská, the premier's draft has been drawn up in a hasty fashion. “The act on proving the origin of one's property may turn out be Robert Fico's pre-election move again and will be abolished by the Constitutional Court again,” she told TASR. TASR, SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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