D Day for Referendum on Bad Bank, Holding
Should the upper chamber pass the motion proposed by a group of councillors headed by Mihael Jenčič, the parliament will be required to set a date for a referendum on the two laws.
The move comes after the National Assembly last week overrode vetoes by the upper chamber on the bad bank and the sovereign holding. The National Council had vetoed the bad bank with 19 to 14 votes and sovereign holding with 17 to 15.
The government had made both the bad bank and the sovereign holding the cornerstones of its efforts to turn around the stagnant economy, arguing that they were instrumental in cleaning up the bank mess and attracting much-needed capital via privatisation.
But both are also subject to broad-based criticism over fears that immense power will be concentrated in the hands of a closed circle of politically appointed individuals.