Matovic Denies Richter's Claims on Constitutional Vote Deal

Bratislava, 5 October (TASR) – Leader of the 'Slovakia' party Igor Matovic rejected claims on Sunday by Smer-SD parliamentary caucus chair Jan Richter, who said that MPs Marek Krajci and Rastislav Kratky had intended to support the constitutional amendment from the very beginning and that this was known in advance. „This man is talking nonsense," Matovic said in response to Richter’s statement. Matovic also strongly denied having received any promise of “pardon” from Progressive Slovakia (PS), or a chance to join the opposition at protest rallies, in exchange for ensuring his MPs did not support the amendment. „The truth is that within our caucus, we didn’t want to support the Smer proposal. If the Christian Democrats (KDH) had submitted a similar one, we would have supported it. Two MPs went rogue. One of them was able to take responsibility later, the other thought he was the king of the world, so we kicked him out," Matovic commented on internal party developments following the vote. As a result, Krajci remains in the caucus, while Kratky was expelled. Richter had earlier stated during a TA3 political talk show that the intention of MPs Kratky and Krajci to vote for the constitutional amendment had been known beforehand, but that Matovic was strongly opposed to their doing so. „Information leaked that if they didn’t vote for it, PS would ‘pardon’ Matovic and invite the 'Slovakia' party to join the opposition at protest gatherings," Richter claimed. Progressive Slovakia also rejected Richter’s assertions. „Mr. Richter’s claims are complete fabrications. No such deal ever existed. Instead of hallucinating about the opposition, Mr. Richter should focus on the real problems facing Slovakia – such as how his party Smer is impoverishing people day by day, worsening Fico’s price hikes, and destroying the business environment," PS’s press department told TASR. mf