President Calls on Sutaj Estok to Consider Changes to Petition Law

Bratislava, 16 June (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini on Monday wrote a letter to Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) urging him to reconsider the current form of the petition right in order to eliminate possible fraud, President Office's communications department told TASR on Monday. Pellegrini proposes four changes to the petition legislation, such as reconsidering possible sanctions for violations of the law when collecting petition signatures. The head of state was prompted to do so by a recent petition calling for a referendum to reject sanctions against Russia. The president recommends that a non-public identifier that is only available to the citizen concerned, such as an ID card number, be added to the mandatory information in the petition. He also asks to strengthen the legal cooperation between the President's Office and the Interior Ministry in the potential verification of the name or address of the citizen signing the petition. The head of state also proposes to legislate the use of advanced technological tools in the processing of signers' personal data. "Finally, the fourth area is to reconsider the possible sanctions for violations of the law when collecting signatures for a petition - today, such fraudulent and harmful actions cannot be punished under the penal law," said the President's Office. The president was prompted to present his proposal by the recent petition for a referendum on rejecting sanctions against Russia, which the head of state refused to declare because of the constitutional deficiencies of the question asked. Pellegrini drew attention to serious flaws in the petition, which, in his opinion, revealed legislative loopholes. He said that almost a thousand sheets were completely identical, or contained the same names in a different order, and several were apparently filled in and signed by a single person. am