Rasi Expects No Rift between President and PM over Position at NATO Summit

(TA3,'V politike', 5 July) Speaking on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) said he doesn't expect any discord between President Peter Pellegrini and Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) over Slovakia's position at next week's NATO summit in Ankara. Rasi was responding to concerns raised by his opponent on the show, MP Ivan Stefunko (Progressive Slovakia/PS), who argued that the president is heading to the summit without a mandate from the government. "I expect the president and the premier to follow the same line of communication," said Rasi. He also confirmed that a meeting of the country's top three constitutional officials with the defence minister, and possibly the foreign affairs minister over the Ankara summit hasn't yet taken place. Stefunko pointed out that a document setting out Slovakia's position at the summit had been withdrawn from the government session's agenda twice. Referring to the planned meeting of the constitutional officials, he said he wasn't sure what legitimacy it would have. Stefunko is concerned that, without a due mandate, the president would only say what he thinks at the summit and then be criticised by Smer-SD for his statements upon his return. "And that's a serious problem, because then no one will take him seriously – neither the president, nor our government," he said. The politicians also commented on the outcome of Saturday's (4 July) referendum, in which 16.13 precent of eligible voters took part. Stefunko said this definitely cannot be viewed as a success. He criticised opposition parties for failing to encourage their voters to go to polling stations, describing their approach as petty. However, he stated that opposition cooperation on other issues was working well. According to Rasi, the referendum outcome is a political defeat for both its initiators and supporters, and they should apologise. He thinks that voters felt cheated by the absence of a question about shortening the electoral term. In his view, it must have been clear to the petition initiators that such a question could not be included in a referendum. In this context, Rasi noted that Voice-SD intends to submit a draft constitutional amendment at the September House session that would allow for the shortening of the electoral term by a referendum. Stefunko neither ruled out nor promised support for the draft, saying that they must first consult it within the party. ko