UMS Urges President to Veto Gambling Act Amendment

Bratislava, 27 October (TASR) – The Union of Slovak Towns and Cities (UMS) has called on President Peter Pellegrini not to sign the amendment to the Gambling Act that was approved by Parliament on 23 October, TASR learnt on Monday. According to UMS, the current wording of the amendment fails to reflect the legitimate demands of municipalities to retain the right to decide on the presence of gambling on their territory. "Whether gambling will or will not operate in a town or village must be decided by those who know the local conditions and bear the consequences of its presence every day," said UMS President Richard Rybnicek. UMS pointed out that a negative stance of a town or village would no longer be binding in the process of granting a licence, with state authorities not obliged to respect it. Towns and villages have long warned that gambling is a sensitive social issue with significant social, health and security impacts on local people. UMS considers the approved version of the amendment to be a step backwards in protecting the public interest and a weakening of local governments' responsibility. It emphasised that deciding on the prohibition of gambling is a fundamental expression of the constitutional right of towns and municipalities to manage their own affairs independently, as guaranteed by the Slovak Constitution. UMS therefore appealed to the president to send a clear signal via his decision that the voices of towns and municipalities must be respected and that responsibility for protecting residents from the negative effects of gambling should not be taken away from those closest to local people. mf/df