The austerity, or so-called consolidation, measures for next year might be submitted to Parliament divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on more general economic changes and the second one on interventions in state administration and individual ministries, said Jan Richter, caucus head of the strongest coalition party, Smer-SD, on Tuesday.
According to Richter, one of the main tasks of the upcoming House session, which began on Tuesday, will be to prepare legislative conditions so that Parliament will be able to deal with the state budget for next year in October.
Richter also announced that the junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) will withdraw its amendment to the law on the conditions for exercising the right to vote from Parliament, adding that the party should withdraw its proposal to reduce the president's salary as well.
Independent MPs supporting the coalition will withdraw an amendment to the law on gambling, as a government proposal should be prepared in this regard. Richter admitted that if no agreement is found on the government amendment to the Slovak Constitution, the vote will be postponed until the next session.
According to Richter, SNS has accepted Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky's (Smer-SD) requirement to withdraw its proposals that directly concerned public finances. SNS should withdraw its amendment that would have increased the threshold of preferential votes needed to advance a candidate to an electable position from 3 to 7 percent. SNS's proposal to halve the president's salary is still under debate, said Richter, adding that the salary of the president and other constitutional officials might be part of the consolidation package. "The president's salary will likely be subject to the largest tax bracket, and he will hand over one third of his salary to the state anyway," indicated Richter. The proposal by which SNS wants to exempt self-employed and small companies with a turnover of up to €100,000 from the transaction tax is still being discussed, added Richter.
The coalition isn't united when it comes to the law on so-called COVID amnesties, vetoed by President Peter Pellegrini, either. Smer-SD MPs aren't ready to support the President's veto. "We insist on the law that we approved," added Richter.
Source: TASR
