CORONAVIRUS Matovic’s big dream for retirees fails: Fight for 500-euro bonus, one of the coalition players is against – Topky.sk

An agreement after which there will be no support from SaS

Government coalition leaders have finally “agreed” on the € 500 vouchers for seniors that they will not support or block their SaS. According to Anna Zemanová, chairwoman of the SaS parliamentary group, the party will not consider it a breach of the coalition agreement if the proposal of the Minister of Finance Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) passes to the National Council (NR) SR with the support of the opposition.

The government will still have to sit on the proposal and then come to parliament. Coalition leaders expect to be able to discuss it at second reading by the end of the week. “We insist on our position, we do not agree with the 500-euro contribution,” Zemanová definitively confirmed.

The government and, subsequently, the parliament will most likely have to negotiate this innovation without the support of the Liberals. “We haven’t seen a specific proposal, but it’s possible that it will be organized this way.” remarked Zemanová from SaS.

The OĽaNO leader will have to pay for the hole himself

According to Zeman, the SaS thinks that steps such as easing measures for the vaccinated are the right mobilization. He claims that this was also shown by the increased interest in vaccinations before the adoption of a stricter lockdown. Zeman added that the hole in the budget will have to be defended by the Minister of Finance.

Matovic and Kollar came up with an unexpected amount a week ago

Matovič last week proposed to provide 500 million euros to the affected operations, which suffered the most in the first, second and suffer in the third wave of the new coronavirus pandemic. Operations are arranged in three groups – HORECA, culture, services. He announced this at a briefing together with the President of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Boris Kollár (We are a family).

Source: Topky / Maarty

Pensioners aged 60+ would receive a voucher for € 500 for services for these affected businesses. They should receive a voucher for receiving the third dose and for the first dose. The voucher should be transferable to another person. The aim is to support vaccination of approximately 380,000 unvaccinated pensioners over the age of 60.

The original agreement was for a much lower amount

Matovič stated that they were ready to negotiate this change in a shortened legislative procedure. Kollár welcomed this path of conviction for vaccination. He said it was essential to motivate retirees. SaS said at the time that the agreement had just been born in advance at a sum of 150 euros, and therefore the much higher 500 euros at the press conference of Kollár and Matovič unpleasantly surprised them.

Reactions from Members

The chairman of the OĽaNO club, Michal Šipoš, talks about the need to vaccinate as many seniors as possible, which could contribute to relieving hospitals. He sees the advantage of the vouchers in the fact that the money will end up in Slovakia, in the domestic economy and will support the services affected by the pandemic. The position of SaS is not understood. “Every MP in charge should support the proposal, because we will help more things in Slovakia. We need it as soon as possible.” underlined. He explained that none of the partners had yet seen a specific proposal, “because it is currently being written”. As for compulsory vaccination, he does not see the political will and prefers motivation.

Source: Topky / Ján Zemiar

Juraj Šeliga, Vice-Chairman of the People’s Party, who came to the coalition to negotiate the vouchers with his own proposal, stated that a compromise was not possible. “SaS said it insists on its position,” he noted. He believes that the proposal will come well and with an extended range of services where vouchers can be redeemed. If this motivation does not work, he said, it will be necessary to proceed with compulsory vaccination. He also pointed to the surrounding countries. “This is not a violent way of entering the freedom of the individual, it is a protection of public health. There have been several compulsory vaccinations in the last 15 years.” he stated that it did not require the consent of the parliament and that a decree of the Ministry of Health was sufficient.

Source: Topky – Vlado Anjel