YOU would almost think Slovakia was a desert nation. Yet the only droughts the country is suffering from are intellectual.
Although long-term statistics show it uses less than a fifth of its water reserves, and the number has a declining tendency, the opposition managed to create the impression that Smer is committing treason, if not outright genocide, by proposing a scheme for water exports. The fact that the proposal actually toughens the current regulation, the state could capitalise on spare resources, and there is no mass market for our water anyway, went largely ignored. And at some point the ruling party realised they stood on the brink of mass hysteria.
So they acted. And just a couple of weeks after amending the constitution to protect traditional (i.e. heterosexual) marriage, and introducing secret-service security checks for judges, PM Robert Fico came with the initiative to change it again - by adding a ban on selling water abroad.
Is it really necessary to mess with the basic law so often? And shouldn’t we try to focus on substance instead of using constitutional changes as PR tools? It seems that amending the basic law has become fashionable. And the thirst for sensible politics will remain unquenched.
