Majersky Expected Temporary Drop in Voter Support after Constitutional Amendment

Bratislava, 23 December (TASR) - With the amendment to the Slovak Constitution, the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) pursued its values and programme, KDH leader Milan Majersky said in a year-end interview with TASR, adding that it wasn't an easy decision for the party because the original proposal was prepared by the government. However, he said that Christian Democrats managed to push through their own priorities in the final wording of the amendment, while he also expected his party to score worse in voter support polls. "When we started a serious discussion about taking an active and proactive approach to the constitutional amendment, I predicted and assumed that our percentage scores would go down for a certain period of time as these issues weren't very popular," he said. Majersky stressed that KDH members welcomed the constitutional amendment. He believes that if KDH had abandoned this issue, it would have denied its own identity and ended its parliamentary journey. "On behalf of KDH's leadership, I can say that it wasn't an easy decision, since the original proposal came from Smer-SD, but we managed to reshape it, through amending proposals, so that it allowed us to have a clear conscience when we voted in favour of protecting human dignity," added Majersky. At the end of September, Parliament approved the government's amendment to the Slovak Constitution with 90 MPs voting in favour. Apart from coalition MPs, the amendment was supported by all opposition lawmakers from the KDH caucus except for Frantisek Majersky and Frantisek Miklosko, who abstained. The amendment enshrines the existence of only two genders – male and female – and guarantees equal pay for men and women for the same work. It also introduces constitutional regulations regarding child adoption and the educational process. KDH managed to push through its own priorities, such as a ban on surrogacy and the right of a child to know its parents. jrg/mcs