Voice-SD Appeals to Politicians and Public to Respect President's Decision

Bratislava, 4 June (TASR) - The coalition Voice-SD party respects President Peter Pellegrini's decision not to declare a referendum on the non-application of sanctions against Russia, pointing out that the proposal to call a referendum must meet the legal conditions, TASR was told by party spokesperson Michaela Eliasova on Wednesday. Voice-SD also appealed to politicians and the public to respect this decision and not to try to misuse it for political campaigning. "We respect President Peter Pellegrini's decision not to declare a referendum for the reasons he has stated - that is, that the text of the referendum question is unclear and doesn't meet the legal requirements," said Voice-SD, adding that respect for the will of the public is a fundamental pillar of democracy, which is why it fully supports the right to a referendum, but the conditions must be met. The president said on Wednesday that a referendum initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement on lifting sanctions against Russia can't be declared. He sees ambiguities in the requested question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and businesses?". In his view, the proposal for a referendum is not clear, definite or predictable and would therefore be unworkable in practice. am/df