Monitor: President’s Actions Took Many by Surprise, Agree Danko and Karas

(STVR, 'Sobotne dialogy', 7 June) Speaking on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues) leader of the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) Andrej Danko said that the decision of President Peter Pellegrini not to call a referendum on lifting anti-Russian sanctions was surprising, particularly because he did not refer the proposed questions to the Constitutional Court for review in case of any doubts about their legality, with opposition MP Viliam Karas (Christian Democratic Movement/KDH) also stating that any suspicions regarding the legal conditions for a referendum should be verified by the Constitutional Court. “As a lawyer, I was surprised that he took it upon himself to interpret something that should be decided by the Constitutional Court,” said Danko. He believes that with his decision not to call a referendum, Pellegrini has negatively outdone his predecessor, Zuzana Caputova. Karas, also a lawyer, described the president’s decision as “very bold”. He added that it was doubtful whether the proposed referendum questions met legal requirements, but stressed that it is ultimately for the Constitutional Court to evaluate and rule on these issues. A surprising move by the president for both MPs was his statement that Slovakia would support the proposal to raise defence spending within NATO to five percent. Karas doesn't understand how the president could have announced this without coalition agreement, or even better, consensus across the entire political spectrum. “In his report on the state of the republic, he said that there should be broad consensus behind decisions on fundamental issues, yet suddenly there is a statement abroad that surprises everyone,” Karas said. The SNS leader said that the president had no power to make such a statement. lin