BRATISLAVA, August 22, (WEBNOVINY) — The Coalition Council will have the draft state budget for 2012, the eurozone rescue mechanism, and the SaS party’s nomination for the National Security Office top post on its agenda on Tuesday. Coalition leaders will probably also deal with the controversial issue of conscientious objection in labor law terms. The Christian-Democrats want to address this topic, as they want to have the objection of conscience anchored in the Labor Code, which just recently underwent substantial changes. KDH representatives and Labor Minister Jozef Mihal (SaS) have already agreed on the wording of the necessary changes to the Labor Code and on Tuesday they expect the Coalition Council to bless the plan.
The KDH leader said several weeks ago that his party still considers conscientious objection a relevant topic. Before approving the revision to the Labor Code, the Christian Democrats discussed objection of conscience with the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party. Figel said that with Labor Minister Jozef Mihal they agreed on formalities to protect the right to a conscientious objection within a general employment contract, as well as concerning state employees. The KDH chairman further said he believes that in the near future, political consensus for adoption of a concrete final solution of this issue will be found.
Figel believes that conscientious objection is a nice topic for liberals, too. According to him, the Christian Democrats and liberals should both agree that freedom of conscience is the basis of every human freedom, which the SaS party has in its name. SaS MP Martin Poliacik says that his party does not have a problem with incorporating the reservation of conscience in the labor legislation. He sees the Labor Code as a suitable opportunity for protecting freedom of conscience. The SaS always wanted objection of conscience be part of the Slovak legislation, rather than something dictated and superior to the Slovak law. If conscientious objection becomes part of the labor law relationship between an employer and an employee anchored in a work contract, the SaS will accept it. “Everybody has the right to freely determine labor conditions,” said Poliacik.
SITA