Sutaj Estok: I Have No Plans to Expel Ferencak from Voice-SD (2)

Bratislava, 29 December (TASR) - The parliamentary caucus of the coalition Voice-SD party is "absolutely stable" after the departure of Jan Ferencak, according to party leader and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok. In a year-end interview for TASR, Sutaj Estok added that he has no plans to expel Ferencak from the party, but he criticised some of the lawmaker's actions over the past year. The Voice-SD chair recalled that Ferencak failed to support several government bills during parliamentary votes. Ferencak left the Voice-SD caucus after he was removed as head of the House committee for European affairs, while indicating that he still wishes to remain in the party. "We as Voice adopted an internal decision that if Jan Ferencak didn't represent the views of the party and wasn't able to guarantee that he'd support this governing coalition on important bills, we'd remove him [from the committee chairmanship — ed.note]. In the end, 107 MPs voted for his removal. That makes it a closed chapter for me," said Sutaj Estok. He also pointed out that Ferencak was part of a group around Samuel Migal and Radomir Salitros, who, while still MPs, criticised the state of affairs within the party and were expelled from Voice earlier this year. "These people were given a huge opportunity by party founding father Peter Pellegrini. They were placed high on the candidate list. It's becoming clear that this was a huge mistake. However, every young party goes through such mistakes. Today, the 25-member Voice parliamentary caucus is absolutely stable, and we'll continue within the governing coalition," he added. Sutaj Estok also commented on Ferencak's call to convene a party congress at which members should reassess Sutaj Estok's performance as leader. He noted that there are rules for convening a congress and that after the last parliamentary session he met members of the party presidium, who declared their support for him. Ferencak announced his departure from the Voice-SD parliamentary caucus in December, when Parliament, after a proposal was submitted by Voice MPs, removed him as head of the European affairs committee. He said he couldn't remain in an environment in which critical speech leads to persecution. Despite this, Ferencak declared that he was, for now, staying in the party. President and Voice party founder Peter Pellegrini later said that he doesn't understand Ferencak's ambition to remain in the party after leaving the caucus. "I think that the party should include people who speak with one voice, share one view and present unity, but that again depends on how the Voice party approaches it," he said. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the final three paragraphs mf/df