Opposition Not Surprised by Effort to Oust Mikas, Praises His Erudition

Bratislava, February 12 (TASR) - Opposition lawmakers are not surprised by the Slovak National Party's (SNS) call to oust Chief Hygienist Jan Mikas and have underlined his erudition and experience, while House Vice-chair Peter Ziga (Voice-SD) will leave the decision on whether or not to keep Mikas in his post up to Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD). Progressive Slovakia chair and House Vice-chair Michal Simecka attributes the chaos and poor management of the COVID-19 pandemic to the government of Igor Matovic (2020-21). He added that objections can be raised against Mikas, but he underlined that Mikas is undoubtedly a seasoned expert who has been serving in his post for a relatively long time. SaS MP Jana Bitto Ciganikova rejects attacks on experts. "We should be grateful when experts with a quality education help the state to function," she stated, adding that if the health minister cannot weather the pressure from SNS, she has no business being a minister. KDH caucus chair Martina Holeckova said that she completely understands that SNS has problems with the expert, as "it put a disseminator of hoaxes in charge of the commission investigating the pandemic". 'Slovakia' party chair Igor Matovic remarked that in light of who has been appointed to investigate the pandemic, an effort to dismiss a person with six university degrees is only to be expected and normal. Matovic doesn't expect any principled stances from the Voice-SD party. "It will cater to the desires of its coalition partner, in this case Andrej Danko [SNS]," he thinks. SNS called on Mikas to step down from his post immediately, as the party perceives the chief hygienist as a symbol of the botched fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Mikas stated in response that he won't resist efforts to have the pandemic management investigated and will provide full cooperation to the Prosecutor-General's Office and the Supreme Audit Authority. mf/df