SaS Calls on Coalition to Withdrawal Bill Labelling NGOs as Lobbyists (2)

Bratislava, November 27 (TASR) - Opposition's SaS called on the governing coalition to withdraw the bill that redefines NGOs as lobbyists and warned that such a legislation would restrict the right of association and civic society, MP Ondrej Dostal (SaS) declared at a press conference on Wednesday. "When the governing coalition discovered that it can't label NGOs as foreign agents, it came up with an alternate proposal to label them as lobbyists. Non-profit NGOs, attempting to influence policies of public bodies and politicians, will need to register as lobbyists and provide reports on their activities, including detailed information on who they meet with," claimed Dostal. He added that even though the topic of lobbyism is legitimate, a comprehensive legislation is needed to address it. "Optimally in the form of Government-sponsored bill that goes through comments and not as an MP amendment attached to another unrelated bill." In Dostal's view, the new legislation should apply to all entities that attempt to influence public officials, hence not only to NGOs, but also private businesses, professional associations, lobbyist agencies, labour unions and churches. Because of this, he finds the current proposal absurd and the definition of lobbing quite nebulous. He takes objection to the fact that the bill attempts to regulate also indirect attempts at influencing public functionaries, such as writing articles, making posts on social networks or sending e-mails to legislators. SaS underlined that NGOs not only carry out the role of helpers in social sphere, but they're also watchdogs of democracy and the rule of law. "They speak out when the state begins to breach the principles of democratic governance of public affairs. Their work is indispensable in the protection of democratic values and the rule of law. Any attempt to curb civic society poses an attack against each and every one of us," claimed MP Maria Kolikova (SaS). mf