Parliament Starts Discussing No-confidence Motion in Government

Bratislava, 4 February (TASR) - Parliament on Wednesday evening began debating opposition proposals to dismiss several ministers as well as a no-confidence motion in the government as a whole. The discussion is expected to continue until the proposals have been fully debated, which may mean continuing after 8 p.m. if necessary. The first motion to be presented by the opposition was the one of no confidence in the cabinet, which was submitted in January of last year. The opposition parties claimed that the government had betrayed its promise to carry out its obligations in the interests of Slovak citizens, criticising government representatives for the consequences of public finance consolidation and Slovakia's shift in foreign policy toward the East. The no-confidence motions also concern Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD), Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee), Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS), Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD), Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent), and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee). am/df