NGO releases its democracy barometer on Slovakia

The Slovak Spectator, 25 January 2010

The quality of democracy in Slovakia worsened last year, says a report entitled IVO Barometer prepared by the Public Affairs Institute (IVO), an NGO think tank, the SITA newswire wrote.

Deterioration was reported in all areas monitored by IVO, including democratic institutions, rule of law, legislation, human and minority rights, and independence of the media. Compared to 2008, the quality of democracy dropped from 2.9 points to 3.3 points in 2009, based on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being the best.

“Problematic trends did not disappear, party cronyism did not weaken, and marginalization of the parliamentary opposition in the form of rejection of all its legislative proposals persists,” IVO President Grigorij Mesežnikov told SITA on Wednesday, January 20, adding that implementation of the principle of party and political loyalty towards the ruling coalition at the expense of professionalism and competitiveness had a major impact on state institutions.

Mesežnikov also pointed to an alarming trend in the judiciary, which some judges themselves drew attention to, which is rare in democratic countries. The government reacted in a typical way to the situation and its defence was reminiscent of the era prior to 1989, the head of IVO said.

The co-author of the report, Jaroslav Pilat, added that the government continued in 2009 in its practice of misusing abbreviated legislative proceedings in an attempt to create an impression that it is taking fast steps. He also criticizes the government for indirect revisions of laws.