Coalition to Unveil its Solution for Scrapping Meciar's Amnesties

Coalition to Unveil its Solution for Scrapping Meciar's Amnesties

Bratislava, March 13 (TASR) – The coalition will submit its own constitutional solution to revoke Vladimir Meciar’s amnesties at the Government session slated for Wednesday (March 15), Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said after the Coalition Council session on Monday.

“The governing coalition has decided to tackle the revocation of Meciar’s amnesties in a constitutional manner. I expect the Opposition to show their constructive solution as well,” said Fico, adding that the coalition wants the amnesties scrapped.

“We’re prepared to vote for abrogating the amnesties, if we make a relevant amendment to the Slovak Constitution first,” claimed Fico on behalf of the coalition. The agreed solution calls for Parliament and the Constitutional Court to be invested with powers that will enable them to act, thus opening the door for lawmakers to annul the amnesties. The coalition will release details of the plan on Wednesday, with legal experts summoned at the moment to work on the motion.

Also to be revoked is the amnesty of former president Michal Kovac [used to grant legal pardon to his son, who was suspected of economic criminal activities in the Technopol case – ed.note].

“We want to do this in a legally clean way,” stressed parliamentary chair Andrej Danko (SNS), who rejected the notion that he’s taking advantage of the issue for politicking. Danko maintains that the coalition is attempting to arrive at a compromise, a sentiment also echoed by Most-Hid chair Bela Bugar, who voiced his full satisfaction with the agreement.

“We found a compromise that will enable the scrapping of Meciar’s amnesties. Parliament can take action in accordance with the Constitution and we can vote for the revocation at the next session. We’re nearing the conclusion. If no politicking ensues, the whole of Parliament can lend its support to the abrogation of these amnesties,” said Bugar.

Fico stated that the plan championed by the Opposition doesn’t represent a constitutional approach for scrapping the amnesties. “That’s our view,” he said.

Danko hopes that the coalition-sponsored motion will secure support also from President Andrej Kiska and the Opposition.

Meciar’s amnesties relate both to the 1995 kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr. and the murder in 1996 of Robert Remias, who served as a contact for a key witness of the abduction.