Christian Democrats Call For Legal Analysis of Ambulance Tender Cancellation

Bratislava, 20 August (TASR) - The opposition's Christian Democrats (KDH) are demanding that a legal analysis concerning the cancellation of the ambulance tender should be published, while also calling on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to dismiss Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) immediately in order to "resolve the whole scandal," TASR reported on Wednesday. "Sasko didn't prepare a fair and transparent tender, he didn't intervene in the selection process early enough when serious suspicions of political corruption and cronyism emerged, and by his veiled statements and by misleading the public on the cancellation of the tender, he may cause millions in damages to be paid by Slovakia from lost lawsuits with the bidders in the cancelled tender," warned KDH MP Peter Stachura, also a member of the House health committee. The arguments that Sasko used when claiming that the tender cancellation process was lawful are untrue, added KDH. "He said that the final report did not reflect the fact that one of the bidders had withdrawn. He was referring to Penta, which, according to reports in the media, withdrew as late as on 8 August – several days after the selection committee had concluded the proceedings. Penta's withdrawal therefore had no effect on the final report, which was signed by all members of the committee on 31 July," explained KDH. The Christian Democrats warned Fico that the health minister's conduct is verging on illegality and may result in lawsuits initiated by the participants in the cancelled tender, which is one of the reasons why KDH MP Frantisek Majersky has filed a complaint with the police. The tender for ambulance service licences was criticised both by the opposition and the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS). Sasko asked the Prosecutor-General's Office to investigate the legality of the tender process. The tender was officially cancelled last Wednesday (13 August) by the Emergency Medical Services Operations Centre. Expert analyses are intended to show how the operation of ambulance services could be set up in the best way possible, with three options presented to date - the nationalisation of ambulance services, priority rights granted to the state and public organisations to operate ambulance services, and integrating ambulances into a so-called integrated rescue system. jrg/df/mf