Striking health workers and the opposition asked Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to veto a bill requiring doctors to work under the threat of up to a year in prison, according to Euractiv.
The bill, passed by parliament on Wednesday night, was introduced in response to a mass strike by 3,300 doctors. The workers resigned in protest at worsening conditions in the health sector. Seventy opposition MPs and two from the ruling Hlas-SD party voted against the legislation.
The doctors agreed to withdraw their resignations if the government met their demands. However, negotiations are stalled, with time running out as the resignations could come into effect in January 2025. The doctors’ union (LOZ) sent a letter to the president on Thursday.
Forcing individuals to work when they have freely chosen to resign crosses the boundaries of democracy and undermines democratic principles. The adoption of this amendment is not capable of effectively solving the problems of the Slovak healthcare system, it is just escalating the conflict.
The liberal opposition SaS party joined calls for the president to reject what it called “hostage law,” according to SaS chairman Branislav Gröhling.
We call on President Peter Pellegrini not to sign the hostage law that threatens doctors with a year in jail. The president must send a clear message that Slovakia will address its problems through systemic solutions, not by criminalising healthcare workers.
On Sunday, the government approved draft amendments to legislation that would allow the declaration of a state of emergency in the event of a critical shortage of health services. Under the new provisions, health workers would be obliged to continue providing treatment during such emergencies. Meanwhile, failure to comply could result in a one-year prison sentence.
Health Minister Kamil Šaško stated that the measure was aimed at protecting life and health in case of mass layoffs of doctors. Šaško added that the state of emergency would apply to certain regions.
