Parliament Dismisses Simecka from House Vice-chair Post
Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party leader Michal Simecka is no longer a House vice-chair, as Parliament dismissed him from the post in a secret ballot on Tuesday.
Bratislava, September 17 (TASR) - Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party leader Michal Simecka is no longer a House vice-chair, as Parliament dismissed him from the post in a secret ballot on Tuesday.
Seventy-seven MPs were present for the vote, with one ballot paper being declared invalid. Seventy-six MPs voted for Simecka's dismissal, nobody was against and nobody refrained from voting.
A special session on Simecka's dismissal, initiated by Smer-SD and SNS MPs, was held last week. The main stated reasons for the move was the use of state subsidies by people close to the PS chief and suspicions of manipulation in the allocation of subsidies. Coalition representatives also accused Simecka of organising protests against the leadership of the Culture and Justice Ministries, from which, they alleged, Simecka's family is losing its financial backing.
Simecka rejected the criticism, viewing the proposal as revenge for his carrying out his opposition job well. MPs for the opposition PS, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), Christian Democrats (KDH) and 'Slovakia' parties said in advance that they wouldn't take part in the vote.
