BRATISLAVA, June 15, (WEBNOVINY) — President Ivan Gasparovic has vetoed and returned to Parliament the revised bill governing the use of minority languages, according to the information posted on the website of the presidential office. Gasparovic compiled a ten-page list of remarks, suggesting that lawmakers reject the amendment as a whole during the repeated debate. The wording of the revised bill was approved by the Cabinet in May as a compromise between the version penned by Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Rudolf Chmel (MOST-HID) and reservations presented by Christian Democrats and independent MP Igor Matovic.
The president dislikes that the norm cuts the quorum for the use of minority languages in official communication from twenty to fifteen percent. “In my opinion, the percentage proportion of residents of villages referred to as ‘the locality where regional or minority language is used’ based on the declaration of the Slovak Republic cannot be altered,” he writes in veto decision.
He further objects to the rule that if fewer than fifteen percent of residents identify themselves as members of an ethnic group in three consecutive censuses, the given municipality will lose its multilingual status. “So, if members of an ethnic group (…) do not account for at least fifteen percent of residents (they make up, e.g., merely ten percent of residents) pursuant to the outcome of the first and even of the second census after July 1, 2011, the right to use the minority language would be preserved (…) although the 15-percent limit set by the law would not be met,” the press division at the presidential office cites the president’s reasons.
Another disputed provision enables the use of minority languages when approved by public administration staffer even in municipalities that do not meet the set quorum. The president does not want geographic names to also be stated in minority languages when mentioned in expert publications or in print. The head of the state slammed the possibility to place signs and notices also in minority languages anywhere. Gasparovic further pointed out the increase in costs this amendment will trigger at the time of fiscal consolidation.
Legislators will again decide on the fate of the revision during the next session, slated to start on June 28.
SITA