Sipos: Opposition Should Cooperate, Coalition Benefits from Arguments within It

Bratislava, 7 January (TASR) - The 'Slovakia' party continues to be frequently blocked and shunned by the rest of the opposition, 'Slovakia' party - For the People caucus chief Michal Sipos has said in an end-of-year interview for TASR, adding that the party only seems to be good enough to "do the dirty work" for the opposition parties. Sipos pointed out that 'Slovakia' MPs are often among the few who stay behind for night-time deliberations in Parliament, for example. He called for cooperation within the opposition. According to him, the opposition partners should realise that things won't be possible without his party. He stressed that it's the coalition who benefits from the arguments within the opposition. "The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) parties, along with the extra-parliamentary Democrats party, always kick us or block us whenever they can or don't give us space on the stage at protests. These parties speak about the need to unite and to bring the entire opposition together, but they don't even invite us to protests. Sometimes I feel like we're good partners only in terms of doing the dirty jobs," stated Sipos. Sipos regrets that his party is being blocked, although he praised the stance of the Christian Democrats (KDH), who have never spat on it and often tell it what is being discussed at opposition meetings. Meanwhile, he said that even though PS and SaS often attack 'Slovakia', the latter does have correct relations with some MPs from those parties. "Many understand that we're on the right side and that things cannot be done without us. However, their leaders must realise that as well," he said. Sipos also dislikes the claims made by some opposition representatives that the problem is not the 'Slovakia' party, but its leader Igor Matovic. He views this as a kind of marketing trick or excuse. According to him, it isn't in order for other parties to interfere in internal party decisions and processes in this way, which he views as non-democratic. "Let's imagine that we had a very good election outcome and we said that we'd form a coalition with PS but without its chairman Michal Simecka, or that we went into a government with SaS but without its leader Branislav Groehling," said Sipos. ko/df