BRATISLAVA, September 28, (WEBNOVINY) — As soon as parliamentary committees discuss the proposal to extend the amount of funds in the European Financial Stability Facility, there will be nothing standing in the way to the bailout fund being discussed in parliament on October 11 when it is scheduled to meet. Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Vice Chairman of SDKU-DS Milan Hort opines. “Parliament Speaker Richard Sulik (SaS) assigned the international treaty to be discussed by the Committee on European Affairs, Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Committee on Finance and Budget. Committees are scheduled to meet between September 27 and October 6. I see no reason for the vote on the bailout fund not to be held in parliament immediately after sessions of parliamentary committees are wound up,“ said Hort for SITA news agency on Wednesday.
The coalition MOST-HID party will suggest at the next Coalition Council meeting on Tuesday, October 4, to hold the vote on the bailout fund between October 13 and October 16 at the latest. Party spokeswoman Nora Czuczorova said for SITA that the party believes that with regard to the current situation, this issue needs to be discussed as soon as possible. “Party’s proposal is based on two rational reasons. The first one is that the vote will be taken in all national parliaments of the eurozone members by this date and the second one is the fact that the summit of EU leaders is scheduled for October 17 – 18 and the Slovak Prime Minister should have an unambiguous position of Slovak Parliament on this issue in her hands by that date,” said Czuczorova.
Another ruling coalition party, KDH, also wants the vote on the bailout fund to be held as soon as possible so that the coalition does not have to wait until mid-October. Party Chairman Jan Figel also referred to the summit of EU leaders scheduled for October 17 and the fact that all eurozone members will have taken the vote on the bailout fund by that time as the reason for the earlier vote in Slovakia. Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik (SaS) informed earlier that parliament will vote on the bailout fund on October 23.
The liberal party SaS is willing to discuss an earlier vote on extension and other changes to the EFSF, demanded by its coalition partners. However, the party of Richard Sulik conditions this move by completion of talks of parliamentary committees to which the Parliament Speaker assigned the annex to the EFSF Framework Agreement between euro zone members and the European Financial Stability Facility. Moreover, Sulik firstly wants to see the outcome of voting in the remaining sixteen eurozone member states. His secretary, Tatiana Tothova, reported that Sulik “is not authorized to make such decision, it must be made by the Parliament.”
She pointed out that the annex was delivered to the Parliament on September 21 and subsequently assigned to committees for discussion. “The date is precisely set in the paragraph 74 of the standing order which stipulates that this term must not be shorter than thirty days,” Tothova elaborated. Therefore, the Parliament Speaker has no power to cut short the period; he could only extend it.
SITA