Yesterday parliament pushed to a second reading the proposal to scrap MP immunity for misdemeanours with a 85 votes in favour of the motion.
Parliamentary chairman from the SaS party Richard Sulik is well-pleased with the result, as all coalition MPs, with the exception of Julius Stanko from KDH, showed up to support the vote, with the motion looking set to make it easily through the second reading.
Former SNS MPs Anna Belousovova (who recently announced the establishment of her new NAS party) and Rudolf Pucik also supported the motion. Belousovova justified her decision by saying how driving under the influence or parking wherever you want, including places reserved for the handicap, has nothing to do with the work of an MP.
Opposition party Smer-SD is excusing itself from supporting the motion, stating that scrapping MPs freedom to commit misdemeanours should be dealt with via a constitutional law. The party even stated that it was the coalition just trying to bully the opposition, with party head Robert Fico formerly saying the coalition would use it to persecute his party.
Richard Sulik is sure that the bill will be passed, meaning MPs will be subject to fines for speeding, illegal parking, driving under the influence etc. just like all the mortals in Slovakia. Abolishing MP immunity altogether, which would expose them also to criminal prosecution, would require 90 votes, though, as it requires a change to constitutional law.
Oh Georgie boy did you get shafted by someone due to your own short sightedness, silly, silly you !
Again, true to prediction, you never cease to un-amaze me.
But I guess like most disenchanted folk, you need a forum to vent your spleen from, somewhere you can spew your venom from, whilst cowering behind the safety of your anonymity. Sad, very sad indeed! But thanks to you, I am now viewed as an optimist, so I guess you are doing some good.
Keep it up George, You make many people look good, people who could be viewed as pessimistic… I know you have made my life easier.
Sorry Flappers , but you rosey eyed view of Slovaks and Slovakia, is again footshot by your own words , hoisted by your one petard and all that . The fact is , the majority of these people don’t currently look to the future and perhaps never will, even in our kids life time . Life is always they sob,just so hard for them …. . Actual hardwork or getting the job done is a major trauma to most of them . They only think they can get ahead, by waiting for some friend to help them find a job ( cronyism is rife here ), by plain stealing , lying about the cost, cheating on the price, or doing the least they can for the paid 8-4 day job they are employed , hoping to make a big hit commission sale on being a Reality agent, evening and weekends .
I would love to know, what real ‘improvements’ that have been achieved in the last 15 years ? Kindly the name just few , other than be the tourist board, naming the the wonderful scenery, or price of beer……..?
Well old people tend to do that I guess and the younger people may be disillusioned. But things are changing here as they do everywhere, but as history teaches change is slow. Many people a very impatient, its human nature I guess.
Like all things this too will pass. People need to look to the future and look at the improvements that have been achieved. Pro’s and con’s my man, pro’s and con’s
Flapper , which leads to what conclusion ……..? The vast majority of Slovaks (young or old ) are , ignorant , thick , stupid or just don’t even care , for whom they vote ? Well other than they look nice , or they have a certain gender ?
I once ask an 70 year old OAP , how she voted in the last election…..she said to my surprise, Mr Meciar . When I asked why ? She said it was because ‘he gave Slovakia a chance to be a country’ . It was a nationalistic vote , she added . (The actual politics of how this country really came about and why , or the dark years of his rule as PM , she did not know ) …When I said , well what about the future when voting ….for your grandchildren etc ?…She said she cared little about the future of Slovakia, she thought only of the past, when voting ?
Worrying thing is that both, Fico and Slota all play to these basic feelings of me, me, me and nationalist pride …and currently over half the people that do vote in an election , do vote for them.
I think you could make the case that the vast majority of votes in the vast majority of countries are cast for mainly negative reasons – ie because the voter wants to see a party kicked out or kept out of office. I think even the recent UK ‘landslide’ elections (’79, ’83, ’97, 2001) were won and lost for those reasons.
Here in Slovakia, Fico’s near 50% of support (assuming we believe the polls) can be attributed partly to the fact that a) depressingly large numbers of people are still unable to see through his populist rhetoric and realise that he’s just a cronyist, power-obsessed maniac and b) because the coalition keep getting themselves in a tangle. The coalition, meanwhile, are there simply because 60% of voters didn’t want Fico and because they made pre-election pledges not to prop him up. Voting for someone ‘because she’s a woman’ might be a bit silly but it is at least a positive reason compared to most you’ll hear.
As for the law, healthy scepticism is no doubt necessary, time will tell whether it’s enforceable and whether further changes are possible.
And would that be a bad thing? People are limited to voting only for those who stand for election. People who exercise the right to vote must choose the lesser evil or the one they like the look of. I say that because I asked a girl in Senica once if she voted, to which she replied: “I certainly do, it’s my right and I take it very seriously”. I then asked if she chose by party or individual candidate. She replied that she preferred to vote for a woman, or the candidate she liked the appearance of. I, in response “What about their policies, do they sway your opinion?”. “No, not really. They basically all say the same thing”, was her reply.
I found this curious and wondered if many young people vote in the same way.
If the law were to be consistent, every MP would be in prison.
With Fico currently creeping to 50% of the popular vote , do you think anyone in Slovakia actually cares about this kind of law ? Well, other than popular press barons and the ‘ discussed’ news journalists, who think they are the moral compass for Slovakia ? These are the same professionals that appear to feel they can ferret through peoples garden and household rubbish, have a pop at anyone and then go all self richteous, when someone has the brass neck to sue them for invading their good name, or their privacy .
People in Slovakia know the vast majority of those in political life are crooks …they however still vote for far more for Robin Hood Fico , rather Tinker Bell Radovicova and why is that ?
Tempting to suggest that it’s about time Fico and his cronies were subject to a bit of persecution. More seriously, all I’d say is not before time.
Just hope no’one from the coalition goes and ruins things by nabbing a disabled space or having one for the road and getting flagged down by the police.