Coalition Figures Differ on Future of Police Chief Lucansky
Bratislava, June 8 (TASR) – Figures from the governing coalition have differing opinions on whether Police Corps President Milan Lucansky should step down from his post, TASR learnt on Monday.
For the People vice-chair Veronika Remisova thinks that if Lucansky voluntarily resigned from the post of police chief, it would deal with a number of problems at once, but House chair and We Are Family leader Boris Kollar is convinced that the Police Corps president shouldn’t step down under pressure.
Meanwhile, the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is leaving the final say to Interior Minister Roman Mikulec (OLaNO).
“In light of the Government Manifesto, Mr. Lucansky must be aware of the aims and intentions that this coalition has in the context of upcoming reforms of the Police Corps, and it remains to be seen whether Mr. Lucansky is capable of subscribing to them. If he has reservations, I would welcome it if he were to exercise his powers of self-reflection and reconsider his tenure,” said House defence committee chair Juraj Krupa (OLaNO), adding that he would respect Lucansky’s decision, which remains “totally up to him”.
Kollar believes that it would be “very unfortunate” if Lucansky were to step down under pressure. “And it wouldn’t be in order if no agreement on such an important issue were concluded within the coalition [first],” he stated.
According to Remisova, Lucansky’s voluntary resignation would deal with a number of problems at once. It’s of paramount importance to have a police leadership that inspires public trust and commands at least a basic level of confidence from the Government.
As the Government plans to “cleanse the police of mafia structures”, it would be suitable to have someone of indisputable moral integrity at the helm. Remisova noted that Lucansky was head of police internal affairs for a long time, but he “failed to investigate any big police corruption case and crimes committed among the ranks of the police”.
He also landed the job under “the Smer-SD government’s political camouflage” [in the period following the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee] and the police under his watch have still failed to shed any light on the inroads that the mafia made into its structures or the kidnapping of a Vietnamese national. “Therefore, I for one don’t think his continued tenure is the best solution for the country,” she added.
The Government plans to revise the rules governing the appointment and ouster of the Police Corps president.
In a recent interview given to Novy Cas tabloid daily, Milan Lucansky intimated that he’s entertaining his resignation.
