Government Office: Ombudsman's Motion Was Unnecessary and Political

Bratislava, 19 August (TASR) - By filing a motion with the Constitutional Court regarding an amendment to the NGO Act, ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky has sided with the political opposition and uncritically adopted its "misleading" criticism, which has been disproven multiple times, the Government Office's press and information department told TASR on Tuesday. Dobrovodsky also ignored recommendations from international authorities, added the office, perceiving his motion to be unnecessary and political. The office, as one of the authors of the act, which was aimed at making the NGO sector in Slovakia more transparent, said that it respects the ombudsman's right to participate in public policy-making, including via motions filed with the Constitutional Court. "However, it is incomprehensible that, in his motion, he uncritically adopted the misleading arguments of the political opposition, which were disproven several times during public debate," the office stated, adding that just like the opposition, the ombudsman failed to notice the official recommendations for increasing transparency in the third sector that came from international authorities such as the OECD, GRECO, and FATF and which were addressed in the amendment. The office recalled that proceedings to examine whether this piece of legislation complies with the Slovak Constitution are already pending before the Constitutional Court, which did not uphold the request to suspend its effect. Therefore, the office perceives the ombudsman's motion, which doesn't include any new arguments, to be unnecessary and political. Even in these proceedings, however, the office is ready to refute all misleading claims. The ombudsman has turned to the Constitutional Court over the amendment to the NGO Act, stating that some of its parts violate the principle of freedom, hamper civil society's participation in public life and enable the state to undertake disproportionate activities which would allow "spying" on NGOs. The amendment to the NGO Act came into force in June, introducing, for instance, a requirement for NGOs to draw up a transparency report and to make available information on how public funds are managed. jrg/df