Four coalition leaders signed the coalition agreement on March 21. (source: TASR)
Tightening abortion rules or registering same-sex partnerships have been mentioned as a potential landmine for the ruling coalition during this term.
This is mainly due to the fact that the coalition parties, and maybe the biggest coalition partner, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) of Igor Matovič, have brought a number of ultra-conservative MPs into parliament. Now these potentially explosive issues have become an exception in the coalition agreement.
The ruling coalition has not published the text of their agreement yet, even though the leaders of the coalition parties, OĽaNO, Sme Rodina, SaS, and Za Ľudí, signed it nearly two weeks ago. The Sme daily has at its disposal part of the document, which governs the mutual relations among the four partners.
It shows that coalition MPs are allowed to propose stricter rules for abortion without the need to first have their proposals okayed by the coalition council (which includes the four leaders or their assigned representatives). They only need to inform the coalition council beforehand.
Igor Matovič reiterated that he wanted the lawmakers to act freely regarding these issues.
"We are a parliamentary democracy," Matovič said in early March, shortly after he won the election. "Every MP votes based on their consciences and convictions."
This is an exception to the rule. With all other issues, MPs will not be allowed to propose their own drafts if they are not in line with the programme statement of the government, unless the coalition council gives them the green light.
The government needs to submit its programme statement to the parliament 30 days from when it was appointed (which was on March 21).
