Fico: President's Proposals Contravene Results of General Election

Bratislava, March 4 (TASR) – President Andrej Kiska’s proposals on Sunday for an overhaul of the Cabinet or an early general election after the double murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend represent a denial of the results of the 2016 general election, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico in a speech later on the same day.

According to Fico, Kiska has thus joined the Opposition’s talk on the need for an upheaval in the country.

Any changes to the Cabinet could only be the result of agreement between the three coalition parties (Smer-SD, SNS and Most-Hid), while the Constitution doesn’t stipulate any role for the president in this process, stated Fico.

“An early election can only be organised when at least 90 MPs vote for it,” said Fico.

The prime minister then went on to say that Kiska’s speech on Sunday afternoon seems not to have been written in Slovakia. “This statement had the handwriting of people who don’t know the constitutional traditions and rules and pursue quite different goals from the country’s stability,” said Fico.

“I was shocked by the president’s words that even if [the murder] had a random motive, this somehow reflects the situation in society. I can’t agree with that,” said Fico, adding that he wouldn’t dance on the graves of two young people like the Opposition, the press and the president are doing.