Puci Denies Constitutional Vote Delay Due to MP Absence (2)

Bratislava, 25 September (TASR) – Chair of the Voice-SD parliamentary caucus Robert Puci rejected claims that the vote on the government’s constitutional amendment was postponed due to the absence of MP Jan Blchac (Voice-SD). Puci said this to journalists in Parliament, in response to allegations made by MP Igor Matovic ('Slovakia'-For the People- Christian Union alliance), who had claimed the postponement was caused by Blchac’s absence. Puci pointed out that 90 votes are required to pass a constitutional change, and the coalition does not have that number — with or without Blchac. „He was duly and legitimately excused from the entire day and the entire session,” Puci added, noting that everyone was aware of this. Michal Simecka, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia, reacted to the delay by stating that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is watching “the dam against progressivism” fall apart under his hands — just like the government. He highlighted that the constitutional amendment has been pushed forward for months and criticised Fico for being unable to even get coalition MPs to attend the session. „They saw it would end in defeat, so they’re trying to buy time until tomorrow to pressure some MPs,” he told reporters. According to MP Jana Bitto Ciganikova (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS), the delay represents a defeat for the coalition. „Even on such an important constitutional law, which they’ve been using for months to cover up coalition scandals, inflation, and issues that truly affect people, they couldn’t gather enough MPs to vote,” she noted, calling the coalition weak. She believes the opposition is succeeding in maintaining enough votes to block the constitutional amendment, despite attempts to break their ranks. She expressed hope that the amendment will also fail in Friday’s (26 September) vote. Parliament chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) announced on Thursday that the vote on the government’s constitutional amendment will take place on Friday at 11:00 a.m. It was originally scheduled for Thursday evening. Rasi justified the delay by noting that several speakers have registered to take part in the debate for the third reading. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 6-8 mf