NEWS
Prime Minister Janez Janša: 'Agreement on the initiation of the procedure for amending referendum legislation has been reached.'
In a statement to the media after today's meeting with the parliamentary party presidents and the parliamentary group leaders, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, said that the idea to amend referendum legislation, revived for the third time, and the status of a referendum in the Slovenian Constitution were discussed. The participants discussed the possibility of exempting legislation from a referendum if it has a direct influence on the implementation of the budget, regulates emergency measures, or refers to ratifying international treaties. 'For the time being there is consensus on this issue among all who participated in today's discussion, so the relevant procedure will continue,' said Prime Minister Janez Janša.
He explained that there is also consensus among the parliamentary party presidents and the parliamentary group leaders that a referendum on an adopted act can only be called by a majority vote of all deputies to the National Assembly, or if required by 40,000 voters. 'The options currently in place – that a referendum is required by thirty deputies or by the National Council – would be deleted,' said Prime Minister Janez Janša. He drew attention to the fact that the discussion partners have divergent opinions on whether referendum legislation amendments should introduce a certain turnout quorum in order for a referendum to be valid. He noted that there were different proposals concerning the quorum, and therefore the Constitutional Commission or experts would draft a solution potentially allowing a two-thirds majority consensus. 'A fundamental willingness to head in this direction was expressed,' said Prime Minister Janez Janša.
He went on to state that there was also a discussion relating to a referendum initiative submitted to suspend the Fiscal Balance Act. The parliamentary party presidents and the parliamentary group leaders shared the opinion that such an initiative is 'inopportune' and 'holds up the entire country'.
Prime Minister Janez Janša also underlined the expectations, expressed by the participants, that the initiative would be withdrawn and an agreement reached, given the very problematic time schedule for a procedure which would, regardless of the referendum outcome, eradicate most of the effects of the proposed measures envisaged for this year. 'This is a time loop situation which Slovenia cannot afford at this particular moment in time, in which the external European environment is deteriorating significantly,' stressed Prime Minister Janez Janša.
At the meeting, the participants also discussed the incorporation of the golden fiscal rule into the Constitution. At this time, the two-thirds majority required for its adoption cannot be achieved; therefore the participants did not discuss the issue in depth.