SaS Insists Maria Kolikova Remains Its Candidate for SIS Committee Chair

Bratislava, 18 July (TASR) – The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party reaffirmed on Thursday that Maria Kolikova remains its sole nominee for the post of chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS). "Kolikova was, is, and will be our candidate," said SaS in a statement for TASR, reacting to a coalition agreement to support opposition candidates for committee chairs — provided that they haven't previously been dismissed by Parliament. "We in SaS are not politically naive enough to go along with this game. The coalition first fabricated absurd reasons to dismiss Kolikova, smeared her at press conferences and ultimately removed her in contradiction with reality and long-standing democratic practices," the party stated. SaS expressed concern that any future nominee that it puts forward could be similarly "vetted and dismissed" simply because the coalition has the power to do so. The party warned that this could serve as a tactic to divert attention from more pressing issues. The party also demanded an apology from current Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent), claiming that he played a key role as an MP in Kolikova's removal and used manipulative tactics that he later condemned when they were used against him. Kolikova was removed from the helm of the House committee for supervision of SIS in June of last year, along with Michal Sipos ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU alliance), who chaired the committee on public administration and regional development. Both dismissals were initiated by coalition MPs. House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) recently told TASR that the coalition is ready to support opposition candidates for these roles — apart from those who were previously removed from them. mf/df