The government cabinet did not hold an extraordinary session late in the day on Thursday, September 23, to discuss an amendment to the State Language Act as had been planned as apparently negotiations between coalition partner Most-Híd party and the Culture and Tourism Ministry did not end in success, the TASR newswire reported. Most-Híd spokesperson Nora Czuczorová told TASR that the talks have been adjourned for now and will continue later.
Culture Ministry spokesperson Eva Chudinová stated that Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer had already informed Prime Minister Iveta Radičová that there was no need to summon the extraordinary government session.
“No agreement was made because we failed to get on the same wave-length ... and we cannot identify with the current form of the proposal,” said the chair of the Most-Híd parliamentary caucus, László Solymos, after the talks with Krajcer. Solymos said the main problem is not on financial sanction but that the whole proposal is bad and the fines subsequently evoke concerns among certain groups of the population.
Most-Híd said it acknowledges two alternatives: one is to abolish the fines entirely or to set a strict definition of whom and for what fines can be assessed. The party sees the best alternative to be the abolition of the whole State Language Act but it realises there is no political will for such action.
Most-Híd said it wants to reach an agreement as soon as possible so that the government could hold an extraordinary session dealing with this topic on Friday, September 24. Friday is the last day to submit proposals which the Parliament will deal with in its October session.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
