Coalition Intends to Oust Kolikova as Chair of SIS Supervisory Committee

Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - Coalition lawmakers want to oust Maria Kolikova (SaS) from the helm of the House Committee for the Supervision of Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) over the way she chairs the committee but also her recent statements about the secret service and her submission of a complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office regarding the change to the SIS statutes. Kolikova rejects these reasons as unsubstantiated. "There are essentially three reasons for submitting a proposal to dismiss chair Maria Kolikova. Her jeopardising of the secret service's reputation, which on principle cannot defend itself publicly. Secondly, she doesn't take actions in accordance with resolutions of the supervisory committee itself and, thirdly, she more or less blocks the committee, despite the fact it was her who convened its session," said MP Samuel Migal (Voice-SD). Migal also criticised Kolikova's statement that SIS has been excluded from receiving some information from its foreign partners. According to Migal, this isn't true and it was disproved also by SIS deputy director Pavol Gaspar, who temporarily heads the secret service. MP Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) announced that Kolikova has reached out to the Prosecutor-General's Office regarding changes to the SIS statutes as the Committee chair. However, he pointed out that the committee has approved a resolution to acknowledge the changes. Because of this, in Gaspar's view, Kolikova has acted arbitrarily and unlawfully, going against the resolution of her own committee. In her response, Kolikova explained that it's fairly obvious from the wording of her complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office that she had submitted it not in the capacity of the committee chair but as a lawmaker. She insists that the changes made to the SIS statutes are unlawful. "I maintain that, at the moment, Pavol Gaspar is unlawfully entrusted to head the SIS as its deputy director," she said. Kolikova also ruled out she would endanger SIS's reputation and pointed out that she had been warning about the risks surrounding the new statutes even before Gaspar's appointment. In addition, she received information on a certain isolation of SIS also as the committee chair. mf/mcs