President Pellegrini Probably Won't Sign Amendment to Gambling Act

Bratislava, 28 October (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini probably won't sign the amendment to the Gambling Act and will return it to Parliament for reworking, the president himself said after laying a wreath to mark the anniversary of the founding of the erstwhile Czechoslovakia on Tuesday. "I have a problem with the wording as it has been presented, and there's a high probability that I'll veto this law and return it to Parliament so that the coalition can deal with it once again," said the president. He noted that the law was approved by the votes of only 71 MPs, so now he'll allow Parliament to show whether it's really a priority of the governing majority and if it can manage to find 76 MPs to override his veto. The president pointed out that there are doubts regarding the interpretation of the approved wording of the law. While the coalition claims that the amendment allows local governments to refuse to allow a casino to continue to operate on their territory, opposition MPs opine that the wording of the amendment only speaks of the obligation for the opinion of the municipality to be submitted. Pellegrini doesn't like the way in which the amendment to the law was approved and the date on which it will come into effect was set. "I'd like to remind and warn Parliament that, unlike the government, the president is not liable to Parliament, and, in line with the Constitution, he has 15 days to assess the law. Therefore, it's not very decent if Parliament approves a law on Thursday night and wants it to come into effect on Monday morning," added the president. ko/df