Igor Matovič (source: TASR)
The Constitutional Court ruled in closed session on the complaint of OĽaNO-NOVA (Ordinary People and Independent Personalities) leader Igor Matovič against the fine of nearly €12,000, which the Parliamentary Committee of Conflict of Interests imposed on the MP back in June last year.
There is now no obstacle to coalition deputies voting on the withdrawal of the parliamentary mandate from OĽaNO leader Matovič, the Sme daily reported.
The head of the committee Martin Poliačik (SaS) cannot comment on whether Matovič will lose his parliamentary mandate, or whether he will just pay the fine.
"Since the court was unable to provide a unifying opinion, which we expected when we suspended all proceedings, it was conceivable that the court would confirm earlier statements and uphold the decision of the committee," explained Poliačik, as quoted by the SITA newswire. "This means for us that we will restart all the proceedings in the matter of trade licenses of public officials and will also decide according to the practice of the Constitutional Court, which is decisive for us."
The decision of the Constitutional Court will also affect other MPs, who violated the same law as Matovič.
A similar mistake to that of the OĽaNO leader was committed by MPs Eugen Jurzyca (SaS), Stanislav Kubánek (Smer) and Peter Šuca (Smer). The committee should deal with these cases again at the next meeting during the March session of the parliament.
