Dubeci Welcomes President's Decision Not to Declare Referendum on Sanctions

Bratislava, 4 June (TASR) - A referendum is a sensitive and serious institution that works well, chairman of the Progressive Slovakia (PS) parliamentary caucus Martin Dubeci told journalists on Wednesday, adding that he welcomes the fact that President Peter Pellegrini hasn't announced a referendum on not applying sanctions against Russia, however. According to him, there were many ambiguities in the proposal. "It was obvious that there were a lot of doubts, which the president named," said Dubeci, adding that he's pleased that the head of state made that decision. "It seems that the reasons for which he made this decision are serious and well founded," he added. Citizens have the right to file a motion for a referendum, but it isn't an automatic right with any question, stressed Dubeci. It should always be examined to see whether the signatures are real and whether the referendum question is feasible. 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