SaS: Opposition Shouldn't Support Government's Constitutional Amendment

Bratislava, April 8 (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has called on opposition MPs not to vote for the government's amendment to the Constitution and is appealing to MPs from the 'Slovakia' party and the Christian Democrats (KDH) in particular, SaS MPs told a press conference on Tuesday, also asking KDH to withdraw its own proposal to amend the Constitution because it wouldn't help society. SaS MP Maria Kolikova pointed out that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) came up with a change to the Constitution at a time when the opposition had submitted a no-confidence motion in the government. "He brought up cultural and ethical issues at a time when he was unable to face a no-confidence motion in Parliament," she said, adding that the government's amendment to the Constitution is nothing more than a contrived move to cover up the fact that the government is failing to deliver results. "We very much regret that another proposal has come from KDH to fight over this so-called cultural-ethical issue," said Kolikova, adding that such proposals wouldn't move society anywhere, but on the contrary would further preserve the problem. KDH's proposal, she said, would go even further in polarising society, stating as it does that only the mother and father are parents. The government wants to enshrine two genders - male and female - in the Constitution. It is also set to include a guarantee of equality between men and women in pay for work done. Conditions for adopting children are also to be included in the Constitution. According to the proposal, parents should have the right to decide whether their children should participate in the educational process provided by schools and educational facilities if it goes beyond the scope of the state educational programme. KDH has proposed that the Constitution should include a special role for parents in the upbringing and education of their children and in forming their religious and philosophical convictions. The Constitution should also tighten up the rules for using fast-tracked legislative procedures. In addition, following the scrapping of the Special Prosecutor's Office, the party wants the Constitution to provide that special departments should be created to fight terrorism, organised crime and corruption, which will operate throughout the country. According to its proposal, the Constitution would include a sentence stating that Slovakia's withdrawal from the EU and NATO should require a referendum. KDH also wants to enshrine in the Constitution the principle that issues regarding the protection of marriage, the family or morality will never be transferred to the EU level. am/df