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President Gasparovic Vetoes Patriot Act
Friday 19 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 19 (TASR) - President Ivan Gasparovic on Friday returned the Patriot Act drawn up by the Slovak National Party (SNS) to Parliament.
"I won't sign it for pragmatic reasons. It's got nothing to do with the content of the Patriot Act per se, as I have no objections there," said Gasparovic, adding that he was concerned that schools wouldn't be ready for the bill had it come into effect according to the original timetable as of April 1. He stressed that the Act needs to be passed in as dignified a manner as possible.
Premier Robert Fico asked the president to return the Patriot Act, which has come under a great deal of criticism, to Parliament so that it could be modified to come into effect as of September. Fico also claims to have no problem with supporting the bill as such.
Under the proposed law, the national anthem would be played prior to sessions of the Government, Parliament and local councils and at the start of each academic week. In addition, education in patriotism and its content would be incorporated in curricula at all levels of the education system. State schools would be under the obligation to place state emblems, the national flag, the anthem text and the preamble to the Slovak Constitution in their classrooms.
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