'Slovakia' Party Insists on Reappointing Sipos and Kolikova as Committee Chairs

Bratislava, 18 July (TASR) – The 'Slovakia' party is standing by opposition candidates vying for head posts of two parliamentary committees, despite their prior dismissals, and it continues to support Michal Sipos ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU Alliance) for chair of the committee on public administration and regional development and Maria Kolikova (SaS) for chair of the committee for supervision of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), spokesperson Matus Bystriansky told TASR on Friday. According to the party, both dismissals last year were unfounded and violated the principles of parliamentary democracy. "These committee chair posts belong to opposition parties, as agreed after the election. The opposition will insist on these nominations," said Bystriansky. "By blocking them, the coalition is not showing strength, but weakness, an inability to tolerate differing views. Rejecting nominees solely due to their names exposes the coalition's lack of political culture." He added that Sipos and Kolikova were removed not for wrongdoing, but for fulfilling their duties and strictly observing the law. Parliament dismissed Sipos and Kolikova from their posts in June of last year, following proposals by coalition MPs. House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) recently stated the coalition is willing to support opposition nominees for the roles provided they are not individuals previously removed from the same posts. mf/df