Although the Constitution's Act on Fiscal Responsibility does not specify when the government must ask Parliament for a vote of confidence once public debt reaches a critical threshold, the coalition has no interest in delaying the process unnecessarily. The vote may take place as early as during the current House session, Jan Richter, the head of the parliamentary caucus of the Smer-SD party, said on the prime-time public STVR's discussion programme on Sunday.
A week ago, the government's two-year exemption from the strictest debt brake penalties expired. One of these penalties is the obligation to request a parliamentary vote of confidence. According to Richter, the Constitution does not state whether this must happen the next day or within a specific timeframe. According to him, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) may link the confidence vote to a specific government bill or to the opposition's motion of no confidence in the government, which is already on the agenda of the current parliamentary session and scheduled for Wednesday afternoon (3 December).
Opposition's SaS leader Branislav Groehling, Richter's opposite number on the show, also believes the government will attach the confidence request to another proposal, although he considers this improper. He announced that if the government delays the confidence request or chooses an inappropriate procedure, the opposition will turn to the Constitutional Court.
Source: TASR
