BRIEF: President Vetoes Gambling Act Amendment, Recommends Not to Approve It
Bratislava, 3 November (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini didn't sign the amendment to the Gambling Act on Monday and returned it to Parliament so that it can be debated again, recommending that MPs shouldn't adopt the bill as a whole.
The head of state considers the approved amendment to represent unacceptable interference in the constitutional right to territorial self-government, the autonomy of municipalities, towns and their exercise of public authority, including respect for the principle of legal certainty.
"The sovereign holder of power in Slovakia is the citizen. Citizens in many places in Slovakia, either directly in local referendums or through their elected representatives, have made it clear that they don't want gambling in their village or town. The approved law, despite its amendments in Parliament, doesn't guarantee that the will of citizens will be fully respected," said Pellegrini.
On the contrary, the law would, according to him, allow casinos to operate even in municipalities that explicitly reject them on the basis of general binding regulations of their local councils. The approved wording of the law didn't remove its original objective, which is to invalidate the autonomous decisions of local authorities and to overturn the already expressed sovereign will of the inhabitants of towns and villages, stressed the president.
MPs approved the amendment to the Gambling Act, which was discussed via a fast-tracked legislative procedure, on 23 October. A total of 71 of the 78 legislators present voted in favour of the proposal, while MPs for the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) abstained from the vote. Opposition MPs didn't take part in the vote to show their disapproval with the proposal.
According to the Tourism and Sport Ministry, which tabled the bill, the amendment responded to the need to increase state budget revenues by regulating the amount of gambling levies and to the need to adjust the law resulting from application in practice. National lottery company Tipos, which falls under the ministry, would have been able, among other things, to take over valid licences from casino operators and continue to operate them.
In the final vote, MPs approved a number of coalition amendments. The obligation to submit a statement from the town or municipality agreeing to the continued presence of the casino when transferring the licence to the national lottery company was to be introduced, and the casino would only have been allowed to operate in the same municipality.
