Sutaj Estok: Democrats Should Apologise to Slovakia and Cover Cost of Referendum

Bratislava, 5 July (TASR) - Interior Minister and coalition Voice-SD leader Matus Sutaj Estok views Saturday's (4 July) referendum as a fiasco, calling on its initiators, the extra-parliamentary Democrats party to apologise and cover its costs. "The lowest-ever voter turnout in a referendum. Democrats should apologise to Slovakia for this fiasco and cover its costs," Sutaj Estok has posted on social media. Voter turnout in Saturday's was 16.13 percent. The referendum is valid if more than 50 percent of eligible voters take part in it. In the tenth referendum in independent Slovakia's history, voters were deciding on two questions: whether to scrap the so-called lifetime annuity granted under the law to certain constitutional office holders, including, for example, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), and whether to restore the Special Prosecutor's Office and the National Crime Agency (NAKA). The petition for the referendum was initiated by the Democrats party. It wanted to have three questions in it, but the question concerning the demand to shorten the electoral term ultimately wasn't part of the referendum. The president didn't include this question in the referendum, as he believed that it contradicts to the Slovak Constitution. ko