MPs closed the 35th parliamentary session after Wednesday's vote.
After the traditional summer break, the next regular sitting is scheduled for September 9. They were in session for four weeks. Parliamentary Chair Richard Raši (Hlas-SD) closed the meeting on Wednesday, saying that everything on the agenda had been discussed.
A number of bills from MPs as well as opposition motions to oust ministers have been moved to the September sitting. Parliament hasn't yet approved the government's amendment to the Constitution, the vote on which has also been postponed until September.
Also voting on the so-called COVID amnesties act which was vetoed by the President has been moved to the fall session. The President doesn't agree that all those who were fined during the pandemic for violating any pandemic measures should be reimbursed.
Before adjourning parliament voted against adopting an amendment to the Act on Prosecutors and Legal Aides to the Prosecutor's Office, which also dealt with a lifetime annuity for the prosecutor-general.
The new regulation will therefore not apply. MPs discussed the amendment again after it was vetoed by President Peter Pellegrini. Of the 148 MPs present, no one supported the amendment, while 70 opposed it and 78 abstained.
Although Parliament accepted the President's comments and changed the prosecutor-general's entitlement from a lifetime annuity after serving four years in office to after having served a full term, MPs didn't support the law in the final vote. The President had sought to delete the prosecutor-general's entitlement to a lifetime annuity, or at least to modify it so that he would only be entitled to it only after a full seven-year term.
Also on Wednesday MPs elected the head of the parliamentary caucus of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) Martin Dubeci to the post of parliamentary vice-chair in a secret ballot.
Of the 79 valid votes cast by MPs, 78 voted in favour, none voted against and one abstained. The results of the election were announced in the plenum.
"I see this as a small step towards normalising the situation here in Parliament. I think it's absolutely standard for the opposition to be represented in the leadership of Parliament," Dubeci said of his election, adding that he plans to defend the boundaries of institutions that are "tested on a daily basis."
The opposition traditionally holds one post of House vice-chair. The post has been vacant since MPs removed PS leader Michal Šimečka from it in September 2024.
Source: TASR
