About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 E. Eur. Const. Rev. 61 (1995)
The Battle over Presidential Power in Slovakia

handle is hein.journals/eeurcr4 and id is 241 raw text is: SUMMER 1995 The Battle over Presidential Power Spencer Zifcak On May 5, pursuant to Art. 106 of the Constitution, Slovakia's National Council (Parliament), moved a no-confidence motion against President Michal Kovac. The motion received 80 votes in favor, 40 against, with 30 abstentions-a dear majority, but short of the three-fifths required by the Constitution for the motion to pass. Thus, President Kovac refused to resign, declaring that Parliament's vote was unconstitutional and meaningless. Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar accused President Kovac of acting contrary to the state's and the democratically-elected Parliament's interests. Meciar renewed his call for Kovac to vacate the presi- dency. The prime minister characterized the conflict as a battle of wills between the democratically-elected government and the president, deprived of his man- date and authority. Meciar and Kovac then traded insults in vitriolic exchanges, capturing the attention of the press and the public. In recent Slovak political life, invective has unfortunately replaced debate as the modus vivendi of political and journalistic discourse. Beneath these exchanges, however, lay more fun- damental political and constitutional issues. For the impasse that was reached in May would not have occurred had the institutional and constitutional structure of Slovakia been different. Without a dear appreciation of these latter difficulties, therefore, the political brawling that has recently taken place cannot be seen in its proper perspective. The curious constitutional relationship between president, government, and Parliament The Slovak Constitution establishes a parliamentary democracy (see Of Presidents and Parliaments, Matthew S. Shugart, EECR, Vol. 2, No. , Winter 1993). That is, it provides that the government is drawn from Parliament which is directly elected by the people. The government is then responsible to How constituilonal ambiguity shapes political HIfe in Slovakia Parliament and through Parliament, the people. The government, headed by the prime minister, is desig- nated as the principal repository of state power. It is the government, therefore, which has stewardship of the affairs of state. The president is the head of state and performs a number of important but essentially residual func- tions. The president is elected by a three-fifths majori- ty in Parliament to a five-year term. The president is empowered both to appoint and recall the prime min- ister, members of the government, and heads of important state authorities. The president may con- vene and, under specific conditions, dissolve parlia- mentary sessions. Also, the president signs all laws and may return them to Parliament for comment, thus exercising a mild or suspensive veto. In addition to these standard presidential duties, the Slovak presidency also possesses some rather unusual features setting it apart from its Hungarian and Czech counterparts. Unlike the Hungarian and Czech constitutions, the Slovak Constitution does not distinguish dearly between the powers the president exercises independently and those which he exercises only on government request. Under the Slovak Constitution, with the notable exception of declaring war, the president may exercise all of his powers inde- pendent of the government's recommendation. Therefore, the president has the potential to assume considerable political importance. The strength of the presidency is further enhanced by a number of other constitutional provi- sions. For example, the president may submit reports on the state of the nation and other serious political issues to Parliament and may also submit bills and other decrees for its consideration (Art. 102.o of the Constitution). More extraordinarily, however, the president has the right not only to attend sessions of Parliament (Art. 102.p) but also to attend and chair

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most