MP Miroslav Kollar Quits Governing Coalition and For the People Caucus
Bratislava, February 17 (TASR) – MP Miroslav Kollar is leaving the governing coalition and quitting the For the People caucus, TASR has learnt from his assistant Rastislav Haulis.
Kollar, who is at the same time mayor of the town of Hlohovec (Trnava region), in a statement pointed to the bad situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic and high death rate. According to Kollar, the Government’s measures aren’t working. He called for political responsibility to be accepted and for change in managing the pandemic. He claimed that at least the health minister would resign in any European democratic country, but Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) should also do so in the case of Slovakia.
“As mayor I’ll continue to do my utmost to protect the inhabitants of our town with the tools available to me as much as possible. However, as an MP I can no longer legitimise the chaotic and incompetent rule of Igor Matovic, who even today offers only excuses, talks about sabotage, polls about vaccination with the unapproved [Russian vaccine] Sputnik instead of vigorous and competent political leadership. As of today I am no longer an MP of the governing coalition led by Igor Matovic,” said Kollar.
Concerning his departure from the For the People caucus, Kollar explained that he doesn’t want to complicate the party’s position in the coalition with his personal stance. He’s still ready to support all good legislative proposals in Parliament based on the government manifesto, for which he voted.
Concerning the current situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Kollar criticised non-functioning measures, insufficient tracing of contacts and a lack of checks for observance of measures. He doesn’t view across-the-board testing as an effective solution. Towns and villages organise regular testing only because the Government has obliged people to show negative test certificates, but it’s failed to provide testing capacities for them. “We in towns and villages help the state where it fails as much as we can. However, we cannot completely substitute for it,” said Kollar, adding that local authorities are at the edge of their tethers.
The governing coalition won’t lose its majority in Parliament due to Kollar’s departure. Until now it’s had 95 MPs, so it will still have 94, a constitutional majority. OLaNO has 53 MPs, We Are Family 17, Freedom and Solidarity 13 and For the People 11. Kollar was a member of the For the People presidium, and he ran for the post of the party chairman in the summer.
