Opposition party of Robert Fico, Smer-SD, was hoping to battle out three laws with the coalition in parliament in an extraordinary session convened for tomorrow. The coalition has other ideas, however.
The coalition looks set to reject the agenda of the extraordinary session and leave the MPs of Smer-SD to entertain themselves about how the Slovak economy should work. KDH MP, Pavol Abrhan, explained to SITA newswire that the three laws in question are included in the agenda of the regular session next week, so there was no point discussing them now.
Now if the agenda is not given the thumbs up by the coalition, parliamentary chairman Richard Sulik will just assign them to the regular session as planned.
The motions put forward by Smer-SD include a special annual tax on banks, which the former government did not manage during its own term. The second motion is to cut the VAT rate back to 19% from the 20% introduced by the government from 1 January, while restoring the special 6% VAT rate on sales of home produce. The third motion of Smer-SD is an attempt to halt the privatisation of the six state-owned regional heating companies.
Smer-SD is doing its best to exert some power of legislation, but the coalition has so far managed to hold out and push through its objectives, even with its very tight parliamentary majority.