Rasi: Coalition Will Back Opposition Committee Chairs, with Exceptions

Bratislava, 18 July (TASR) – The governing coalition will support opposition nominees for the chair of the parliamentary committee on public administration and regional development, as well as for the committee overseeing the Slovak Information Service (SIS), but that support will not be extended to candidates who have previously been removed from those posts, House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) has told TASR. "The current decision of the coalition caucuses is that if an opposition candidate is nominated, they will be supported — unless they have already been dismissed from the post," stated Rasi. He added that the timing of the vote is up to the opposition. "If it happens in September, then it will be in September," he said. Rasi also highlighted an issue arising when a committee chair resigns, falls ill or is dismissed without appointing a deputy to convene meetings. He recalled that this occurred after Maria Kolikova (SaS) was dismissed as chair of the SIS oversight committee. He indicated that a legislative fix to address such cases will be included in an amendment to the parliamentary Rules of Procedure. Parliament removed Kolikova and Michal Sipos ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU alliance) from their respective committee chair roles in June of last year. Both dismissals were initiated by coalition MPs. mf/df