Opposition Criticises Ending of Debate and Absent Government Members

Bratislava, 5 February (TASR) - During the entire several-hour debate on proposals to dismiss ministers and the government, no member of the government was present at the plenary session of Parliament, with the opposition on Thursday calling this not only cowardly and disrespectful towards the opposition, but also a mockery of parliamentary democracy. Opposition MPs also criticised the premature ending of the debate. The 'Slovakia' party wants to initiate a no-confidence vote in the ministers again. MPs haven't yet voted on the dismissals; the proposers of the motions are currently presenting their stances on the proposals. "All night long, there were discussions about what isn't working at the ministries, what the ministers are doing wrong, but not a single minister came to defend themselves, even though they'd been talking big all year long about how they were ready to go to the plenary session, defend their actions and debate with the opposition. But no one came. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) was reportedly in the building yesterday, and is reportedly still there, but he didn't find the courage to face the opposition MPs," said MP and Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka, adding that this was weak and cowardly. Chairman of the 'Slovakia'-'For the People' parliamentary caucus Michal Sipos criticised the course of the debate, objecting that the proposals were discussed at night and in a joint debate, that government representatives were absent, and that the coalition ended the debate prematurely. "This government has completely lost its legitimacy, it doesn't respect the rules or democracy at all, it's an absolute disgrace," he commented, adding that his caucus wants to resubmit proposals to dismiss the ministers and the government and plans to initiate the collection of signatures for this on Thursday. am/df