Premier Fico Announces Security Council Meeting Over Rise in Hate Speech (2)

Bratislava, May 13 (TASR) - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has called for a meeting of Slovakia's Security Council in response to what he sees as a rise in hate speech and physical conflict and the high likelihood of another attack on a public official, TASR has learnt from Fico's letter addressed to party leaders and four television channels, in which he also proposed moving political TV debates from Sundays to weekdays. "It's unacceptable for a legitimate opposing opinion to be met not with arguments, but with boundless insults and threats of death or bodily harm. Even more unacceptable is the fact that this form of political communication is becoming acceptable and even supported by a significant part of the Slovak political spectrum and the media," he stated in a letter, the content of which he published on social media. According to Fico, society can either tolerate the situation and risk further attacks on public officials or take steps to ease tensions. In the letter, he proposed moving televised political debates from Sundays to weekdays. "This would represent a significant contribution by political parties and the media to reducing aggression and political hatred in the country," he claimed. The premier stated that there is no other country in Europe with such a high number of televised political debates. "And certainly not a country where, on a day of rest, on Sunday, the public is subjected to a four-hour marathon of political talk shows filled with attacks and aggressive exchanges," he said. At the same time, he told the recipients that if they were willing to support the proposal, representatives of Smer-SD, including himself, would refrain from taking part in the political debate slots offered by four TV stations on Sundays. At the beginning of May, Fico announced his willingness to sign an agreement with all political leaders to cancel Sunday political talk shows. The proposal was then supported by opposition party Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). Voice-SD leader Matus Sutaj Estok also thinks that politicians shouldn't be bothering people with arguments on Sundays, but in his view, it's not within politicians' power to decide. He stated he would respect it if the media themselves chose to move the shows to another day. Opposition parties apart from KDH didn't support the proposal. Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) described it as an attempt to restrict political debate because the premier is afraid. The Progressive Slovakia (PS) party argued that broadcast content should be decided by the public and independent media. The 'Slovakia' party believes that Fico is pushing for this because the governing coalition's elitism can't even be justified to its own voters. lin/df