Heger: Former Coalition Agreed on Constitution Amendment and Date of Election

Heger: Former Coalition Agreed on Constitution Amendment and Date of Election
Interim Premier Eduard Heger (stock photo by TASR)

Bratislava, January 23 (TASR) - Representatives of the former governing coalition have agreed on the wording of an amendment to the Slovak Constitution regarding an early general election, said interim Premier Eduard Heger (OLaNO) following talks late on Sunday (January 22) evening.

It should be possible to shorten parliament's electoral term by adopting a resolution, which will require votes from 90 MPs. At the same time, the leaders of the former coalition parties have agreed on the date of an early general election, which should be held on September 30.

Heger thinks that the agreed amendment to the Constitution might be approved immediately after being debated in Parliament. According to him, the amendment will be backed by the OLaNO caucus, and the Civic-democratic platform that quit it, We Are Family and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS). "The numbers should add up in such a case," he said, adding that there will be no need for further negotiations, the proposal should only be fine-tuned on Monday. He said that the proposal includes a provision stating that it will be only possible to change an electoral system with the votes of 90 and not 76 MPs.

SaS leader Richard Sulik has confirmed that an agreement has been reached. However, it will be definitive only after ex-minister of justice Maria Kolikova (SaS) sends a proposal to her colleagues and they confirm the agreement. According to Sulik, SaS set no conditions and can live with September 30 as the date of the election. "An earlier date that could have been supported by the whole coalition wasn't in the frame, anyway," he said.

The 'For the People' party has yet to submit its own proposal for amending the Constitution. Its leader Veronika Remisova noted that the party didn't back down from its demand that proposal should include strengthening the status of the Special Prosecutor's Office and the Specialised Criminal Court.