Opposition Criticises Kotlar's Plan to Speak at Government Session

Bratislava, 3 February (TASR) - Opposition parties are criticising the plan by Government Proxy for Investigation into COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar to present what he calls serious evidence at Wednesday's (4 February) government meeting, which, according to him, has been kept secret for a long time. MP for Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) Tomas Szalay emphasised that Kotlar should have been removed from his post long ago. According to opposition MP Oskar Dvorak (Progressive Slovakia/PS), Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) should be the first to prevent Kotlar from speaking at the government meeting. "Kotlar has huge responsibility as a government proxy. He's abusing it by scaring people into thinking that vaccination is dangerous, that it can harm their health ... I think that Kotlar should have stopped being a government proxy long ago, he shouldn't even have become one," said Szalay, pointing out that it is Kotlar's duty to take responsibility for his statements, which he can't prove. He disagrees with Kotlar's claim that the charges he faces are politically motivated. Opposition KDH MPs Peter Stachura and Frantisek Majersky also believe that Kotlar should have resigned long ago. Stachura described Kotlar's repeated press conferences and actions in office as "never-ending bedtime stories". "He isn't delivering results, nor is he doing what the governing coalition de facto asked him to investigate or looking into how Slovakia should prepare itself for potential future pandemics," he said. Dvorak believes that the government should focus on real problems, not "debunked conspiracies." "I want to point out that this has already has real consequences. We have lowest collective immunity ever, our children are dying from whooping cough, we have an epidemic of hepatitis ... but what strikes me most is the attitude of the health minister," he said, calling on Sasko to oppose Kotlar along with Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) and call for his resignation. Kotlar reported at a press conference earlier on Tuesday that he'll file a complaint against the charges pressed against him, which he views as indisputably politically motivated. The proxy also asked Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for the chance to present serious evidence that he claims has been kept hidden for a long time during Wednesday's (4 February) government session. He wants to present it to the public on Thursday (5 February). Tomas Szalay, who, together with other party colleagues, filed a criminal complaint against the proxy last year, reported that Peter K. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons) had been charged with the criminal offence of spreading false alert. am/df