OLaNO Wants to Revisit Presidential Election Spending Caps with Pellegrini

Bratislava, June 29 (TASR) – Opposition Ordinary People (OLaNO) party plans to discuss changing campaign financial caps for the 2019 presidential race with Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD), TASR learnt on Friday.

According to OLaNO, the current limits don’t afford equal opportunities to all candidates, but instead work in favour of those with lots of money to spend and thus OLaNO wants the rules to be revisited tout de suite – ideally by September.

OLaNO has reached out to Prime Minister Pellegrini with a letter. “In the letter, we’re asking for a meeting,” MP Jan Budaj announced at a briefing held in front of the Government Office. Budaj finds the current legislation execrable because it “lends enormous advantages to wealthy aspirants”.

OLaNO leader Igor Matovic noted that under the current law a presidential candidate can spend half a million euros on campaigning and also receive support from a political party, which might donate another €100,000. However, candidates without their own half a million euros at their disposal find themselves at a severe disadvantage, Matovic maintains.

There are several options of redress, though. “Either allow political parties to chip in and thus help a poor candidate to rise to an equal ground or ban private money [in funding] and offset this by providing more air time and coverage in the media,” stated Matovic, who himself gravitates towards the latter variant.