Parliamentary parties didn't reach an agreement on February 6 regarding the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, according to Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška after the Parliament. Opposition party chairmen Mikuláš Dzurinda (SDKÚ-DS), Pál Csáky (SMK) and Pavol Hrušovský (KDH) came to the same conclusion.
They view the cause of the conflict differently, however. Paška told journalists that the opposition, mainly SDKÚ-DS, was escalating their demands.
"He said that if we accepted their version of the Press Code, they would vote on Lisbon Treaty," Paška interpreted Dzurinda as saying. "This kind of attitude is a violation of the rules of democracy, according to which the majority decides on the agenda.”
The speaker also said that despite the opposition's stance, voting on the treaty would be held on Thursday at 5 p.m., but only if the opposition was present in Parliament. The ratification is thus stil in the hands of the opposition.
Csáky sees the existing development as a win for the Opposition, because PM Robert Fico promised to accept comments on the Press Act from international organisations (such as the OSCE, which has criticized it). TASR
p>Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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