Referendum26: Several Opposition Figures Cast Ballots in Referendum

Bratislava, 4 July (TASR) - Several opposition figures cast ballots in Saturday's referendum, including Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Branislav Groehling, as well Jaroslav Nad, the leader of extra-parliamentary Democrats party, which initiated the referendum petition. Simecka voted in the village of Vychodna (Zilina region). "I came to vote in the referendum. This government needs to hear every signal of what we think about its destruction of the rule of law and elitism," Simecka has posted on social media. Groehling also criticised the current government on social media for the abuse of power and elitism. "The law must apply equally to everyone. The police and the prosecution service must have their hands free again. That's why I came to vote in the referendum," he said. Nad reminded people who the referendum is intended for. "The referendum is not about politicians. It is about whether citizens are still able to say 'enough is enough'. Whether we allow justice, responsibility and basic decency to be taken away from us, or whether we stand up for them. I stood up for all of this by voting in the referendum and I invite you to do the same," the Democrats leader has posted on social media, adding that the referendum is also for those "who are fed up with the fact that power primarily cares about itself". Conversely, the extra-parliamentary 'Right to Truth' party doesn't support the referendum. It views it a political campaign by Democrats. According to party leader Zoroslav Kollar, the lifetime annuity for the premier is a mockery in the faces of citizens; however, its scrapping requires "the common sense among MPs and a sane premier, not further indebting Slovakia through a PR campaign by a specific political party". In the tenth referendum in independent Slovakia's history, voters are deciding on two questions: whether to abolish the so-called lifetime annuity granted under the law to certain constitutional office holders, including, for example, Premier Robert Fico, and whether to restore the Special Prosecutor's Office and the National Crime Agency (NAKA). Polling stations are open until 10 p.m. ko