President Acted within His Powers by Not Declaring Referendum
Bratislava, 11 December (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini acted within his constitutional powers when he decided not to call a referendum on lifting sanctions against Russia, the President's Office's communications department told TASR on Thursday, adding that the Constitutional Court rejected a constitutional complaint against the head of state's decision, which was submitted to it by the referendum petition committee.
The referendum sought via the petition was requested by representatives of the Slovak Revival Movement.
In his decision, Pellegrini stated and defended the arguments based on which he decided to refuse to hold a referendum, with the essence of his decision being that the referendum question was unconstitutional. "The president's decision not to declare a referendum was therefore not a sign of disrespect or disregard for this tool of direct democracy; on the contrary, he expressed respect for referendums and emphasised that great attention must be paid to the wording of referendum questions," stated the communications department.
In its decision, the Constitutional Court stated that the electoral law clearly grants the president the right to refuse to call a referendum under certain conditions. As a state authority, the president is undoubtedly entitled to examine whether the petition complies with the Constitution and specific laws and whether it meets the prescribed requirements, i.e., whether he has an obligation to call a referendum, said the communications department.
In case of doubt whether the submitted petition is constitutional and legal, the head of state is not obliged to submit a proposal to the Constitutional Court under the Constitution, but it is an optional right of the president to either use the option of having the constitutionality of the subject of the referendum reviewed by the Constitutional Court or to assess whether it is constitutional himself and, based on his own considerations, decide whether to declare the referendum or refuse to do so.
The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement. It requested a referendum with the following question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and entrepreneurs?" The movement wanted to use the referendum to put pressure on the government to initiate talks in Brussels, claiming that the sanctions against Russia are harming Slovakia and causing great economic losses.
