BRATISLAVA, May 17, (WEBNOVINY) — On Tuesday afternoon, Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik opened the 18th Parliamentary Session. The session will start by electing the new prosecutor general at 17.00; the election will also decide whether Prime Minister Iveta Radicova stays in office.
In front of parliament, upon their arrival, deputies were greeted by a shouting and whistling crowd of 300 medical workers displeased with the situation in Slovak health care system. In the vote on the program of the session, MPs decided not to discuss two amendments to the citizenship law, one by Igor Matovic, the other by the SMER-SD caucus, which would allow Slovak citizens to obtain a foreign passport without losing their Slovak one. Richard Sulik decided to omit from the program two SMER-SD proposals, to reduce the VAT rate and introduce a special bank tax. The proposing deputies demanded that both laws be discussed, however, the rules of procedure clearly state that after rejecting a draft law, the same issue may not be discussed before six months have passed.
The opposition has criticized Sulik’s actions. “We consider the decision of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee [pointing out that repeated discussion of some issues is not compatible with the rules of procedure] unprecedented. These proposals were submitted long before that decision was made. You are breaking and violating the constitutional right of MPs. The power to initiate legislation is one of the elementary rights of deputies. And the submitted drafts fulfill all requirements,” said SMER-SD Caucus Chairman Pavol Paska. His colleague Lubomir Jahnatek subsequently demanded not discussing the law on regulation, as a similar one was already discussed in February. Parliament did not support Jahnatek’s proposal. They did not support ex-minister Lubomir Vazny’s request that the Cabinet present a report on implementing and drawing EU structural funds and the Cohesion Fund, either.
MPs will also discuss laws vetoed by the president, among them the draft amendment to the law on rules of procedure which changes the secret ballot to elect a prosecutor general to a public vote. Discussing the vetoed law on the legal statute and salaries of the mayors, reducing their salaries and canceling bonuses, is also on the agenda.
SITA