No-confidence Motion in Kalinak to Be Held on Tuesday
Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) – Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) will face a no-confidence motion in Parliament on Tuesday (December 5), according to a decision made by Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) on Friday.
Three Opposition parties – Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), OLaNO and We Are Family – earlier in the day submitted about 40 signatures, which was enough to initiate an extraordinary parliamentary session. According to law, the parliamentary chair should then make sure that the no-confidence session is held within seven days.
“The ouster request has six pages worth of justifications. But if we were to write down all the specifics, it would make for a thick book,” SaS MP Jozef Rajtar said at a press conference.
The proposal cites a number of cases, including the tax evasion scandal concerning businessman Ladislav Basternak and financial corrections in the drawing of European Funds.
MP Gabor Grendel (OLaNO) claimed that Kalinak has become the minister in Robert Fico’s Government who faces the most ouster attempts. “After the regional elections, even Smer-SD vice-chairs themselves pressured the party to make Kalinak step down. So it is also with this motion that we’d like to give them an opportunity to express their will freely and vote for the ouster,” he said.
We Are Family vice-chair Milan Krajniak declared that politicians are supposed to help people and not engage in rackets. “But standard politicians are hustling even with the trust of the people. And it logically follows that the people ask why the prime minister is covering for Kalinak. Well, he’s doing it because Robert Kalinak is the final remaining fig leaf behind which the Prime Minister hides. If the Interior Minister were to fall, it would expose Robert Fico and allow everyone to see him for what he is, without any mask,” concluded Krajniak.
The Interior Ministry was fined by the Public Procurement Office (UVO) only for two tenders, which were both organised when the ministry was controlled by the current Opposition, the Interior Ministry’s press department stated on Friday in reaction to the Opposition initiative.
One fine allegedly concerned the overpriced purchase of cars and another a failure to present relevant documents to the UVO.
“No other fines have been imposed by the UVO on the Interior Ministry for public procurements under Robert Kalinak as Interior Minister,” stated the ministry.
Meanwhile, the criticised financial corrections in the drawing of EU funds, i.e. the increase in the spending share by the state in individual projects, also came under the era of former interior minister Daniel Lipsic (ex-KDH and ex-NOVA), added the Interior Ministry’s press department.
