Kollar Remains Parliamentary Chair, House Fails to Dismiss Him

Bratislava, July 7 (TASR) – Boris Kollar (We Are Family) remains the parliamentary chair, as Parliament failed to dismiss him from the post in a secret ballot on Tuesday.

Seventy-six MPs took part in the vote with 71 votes being valid. A mere five MPs voted for Kollar’s ouster, 46 were against and 20 refrained from voting. An absolute majority, meaning at least 76 votes, was required for his dismissal. Kollar himself initiated voting on his dismissal in the House.

MPs for the co-governing Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and For the People parties didn’t take part in the vote, calling on Kollar to draw political responsibility in advance. They wanted Kollar to step down on his own. They viewed Kollar’s proposal for his own dismissal as throwing responsibility on them. OLaNO hasn’t called for Kollar’s dismissal and said that its MPs will have their hands free in the voting.

We Are Family caucus head Peter Pcolinsky before the parliamentary session said that if the House dismisses Kollar from his post, the party will quit the governing coalition.

The governing coalition has 95 seats in Parliament. If the We Are Family party quit the government, the coalition would only have 78 votes. The Government would thus lose a constitutional majority, but it wouldn’t fall and could continue to function.

Kollar is facing a suspicion of plagiarism regarding his diploma thesis. He maintains that he gained his masters degree in a lawful manner and doesn’t intend to use it in politics any longer.