The people of Slovakia are to be given an opportunity to voice their views on the 'protection of the family' after President Andrej Kiska on Thursday set the date of the referendum on the issue for 7 February, 2015. The referendum will seek people's answers to three questions.
These concern the use of the word 'marriage' only when referring to the union of a man and a woman, a question on preventing same-sex couples from adopting children, and whether or not parents should be able to decide if their children should attend classes dealing with sex education and euthanasia. A petition for calling the referendum - which was initially supposed to include four questions - has been initiated by the Family Alliance (AZR), as it handed over some 400,000 signatures from the public to Presidential Office on 27 August. One question was dropped as the Constitutional Court ruled it anti-constitutional in a ruling dated 28 October. The anti-constitutional item sought one's view as to whether or not one is in favour of not granting special protection, rights and obligations other than to heterosexual married couples. Kiska said on Thursday that, after the petition sheets were submitted to his office, he was doubtful as to whether he could actually call this particular referendum in that whether or not the questions possibly concern fundamental rights and freedoms, because referendums on such questions are banned in the Constitution. “After examining the reasoning of the Constitutional Court, I observe that my personal doubts were not dispelled as far as the other questions go either. Alternative opinions from the Constitutional Court's judges were enclosed to the Constitutional Court's ruling and reasoning. As President, however, I'm required to honour the Constitutional Court's ruling,” said Kiska.
