PRESIDENT Andrej Kiska wants to meet the representatives of all parliamentary parties to discuss the current situation in parliament. The relations between the ruling Smer and the opposition worsened on September 9 after Smer scrapped 10 opposition bills from parliament’s agenda, the SITA newswire wrote.
Kiska met with Ján Figeľ, chair of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and deputy speaker of parliament, on September 10 who informed the president about the way how the bills were scrapped and how the opposition responded. Kiska said that it would be good to restore the dialogue between the parliamentary parties and find a solution.
“President Andrej Kiska wants to stress that all constitutional officials, including MPs, bear huge responsibility for how people trust or distrust the state,” said Kiska’s spokesman Peter Petrus, as quoted by SITA. “People watch how they behave to one another, how they observe the rules and how the representatives of state lead discussions and disputes. Unfortunately, regardless political opinions the distrust and often even disgust from politics are quite big.”
Smer MP and deputy speaker of parliament Jana Laššáková explained that they scrapped the opposition bills because they pertained to the municipal elections, and that they should be discussed after the elections. Independent MP Daniel Lipšic responded that they want to turn to the Constitutional Court to say whether the parliamentary majority can violate the right of deputies for legislative initiative, as reported by SITA.
According to Lipšic, MPs have the constitutional right to submit bills to the parliament. Even if the parliament does not pass them, there should be a discussion, he said.
In response to Smer’s decision, the opposition also withdrew the remaining bills and amendments it submitted for the September session. The deputies also said they will attend the discussions, but not the voting, SITA wrote.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
