Opposition parties are dissatisfied with the version of the Press Code that was approved on April 8, so the chairmen of the opposition SDKÚ-DS and KDH parties have announced their MPS will not take part in the vote to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.
The opposition Slovak Hungarian Coalition (SMK) has said it will decide on its stance toward the treaty during its caucus session on April 10, the TASR newswire wrote.
Dzurinda described the new Press Code as a mean-spirited law that restricts freedom of speech and tramples on democracy. He vowed to change it as soon as possible. Experts within the party are already looking for grounds on which to challenge the code before the Constitutional Court, he said.
SMK chairman Pál Csáky stated that his party does not consider the battle over the Press Code to have ended and that it is also considering taking it to the Constitutional Court. But, for now, the party has moved on to the issue of the Lisbon Treaty, he said.
He concluded that the SMK will continue to consult with its partners in the opposition.
Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška convened a session to agree on how to proceed on the Lisbon Treaty. The coalition still has only 85 of the 90 votes its needs to ratify the treaty, but Paška has said he won’t postpone the vote any more. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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