Sipos: Vote on Constitution Amendment Has Made Us Stronger

Bratislava, 22 December (TASR) – The situation surrounding the parliamentary vote on the government's amendment to the Constitution has made the opposition 'Slovakia' party more cohesive, said Michal Sipos, head of the 'Slovakia'-For the People parliamentary caucus, in a year-end interview with TASR. According to Sipos, the decision to expel Rastislav Kratky while retaining Marek Krajci, despite both supporting the amendment after previously declaring they would not, was thoroughly discussed by within the parliamentary caucus. He explained that different approaches were taken because the two MPs reacted differently to the situation. "We are only human. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone is under enormous pressure, especially in such difficult situations. What matters afterwards is how a person reacts – whether they say nothing happened and move on, or whether they realise the mistake, sincerely regret it and try to regain trust," Sipos said. Sipos added that Krajci demonstrated self-reflection after the vote. "Relations may not yet be 100 percent what they were before, but Marek Krajci certainly has time until the election to regain trust. I believe he's doing everything to remain a firm part, the core, of our movement," he said. By contrast, Kratky's post-vote stance surprised him. "At first he expressed regret, but his subsequent reactions suggested that he thought everything was fine and that nothing bad had really happened. We therefore concluded that if he did not understand how deeply this affected us, trust could not be maintained," Sipos argued. He believes that "time will help heal some of the wounds". In Sipos's view, possible talks about Kratky joining the KDH parliamentary caucus would not bother him and even be a logical outcome, as such a scenario would not harm the 'Slovakia' party and Sipos would welcome it if it helped KDH. He added that KDH has indicated it would not mind taking in Kratky or Richard Vasecka, who also left the caucus after the vote on the constitutional amendment. Sipos described the period following the vote as challenging, adding that he regretted opposition parties condemning the entire 'Slovakia' party for the individual actions of some MPs. "There was a risk that our support could fall below five percent and that voters might reject us, because the pressure from PS, SaS and the Democrats was enormous," he said. Parliament approved the government-sponsored constitutional amendment at the end of September, passing it with 90 votes. From the 'Slovakia' party, Krajci and Kratky voted in favour, despite both having declared beforehand that they would not support it. The party subsequently expelled Kratky from both its ranks and the caucus, arguing that he has shown no responsibility, apology or self-reflection. Vasecka also left the caucus after the vote. His support for the amendment had been known in advance, but he disagreed with the party's handling of Kratky's expulsion. mf