Gaspar Considers Grounds for His Dismissal to Be Opposition Nonsense

Bratislava, 17 March (TASR) - Parliamentary Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) has dismissed the opposition's claims regarding the no-confidence motion in him as nonsense, and he's also rejected the opposition's allegations that the approved amendments to the Criminal Code have helped him in his own criminal case. "I won't comment on the opposition's nonsense. If the programme [of the session] had been approved, I'd have certainly spoken out. But at this moment, as I know what the proposal is and what its justification is, I'd suggest that next time they contact me, and I'll certainly write a better one for them," Gaspar told reporters in response to the failed attempt to remove him. "The claims that we are passing legislation here to help me are false. Simply put, none of those regulations have helped me so far," declared the House vice-chair, noting that anyone under investigation is presumed innocent until a court decides otherwise. "So, if the presumption of innocence applies, and the law didn't prohibit me from running for Parliament, I don't see a problem with having violated anything," added Gaspar. Meanwhile, the opposition criticised the unsuccessful session. Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka believes the meeting was sabotaged because Gaspar lacked the courage to defend himself. "From this position, he has power, he has access to the media, and he intimidates judges and police officers. Everyone stood up for him; they're covering for him," he declared. Maria Kolikova (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) considers the coalition's actions to be indecent. According to her, the governing coalition is on the side of criminality. The 'Slovakia' party and the Christian Democrats (KDH) also criticised the failure to discuss a no-confidence motion in Gaspar. According to them, coalition MPs were intimidated. Parliament was scheduled on Tuesday to discuss the opposition's motion to remove Gaspar from his post of House vice-chair during an extraordinary session. However, MPs didn't approve the session's agenda. The dismissal attempt was initiated by the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, which expressed concerns that Gaspar might be misusing his parliamentary role to advance measures to assist himself in his own criminal case or "criminal proceedings against persons in his close circle". According to the opposition, a person charged with a serious criminal offence shouldn't hold the post of parliamentary vice-chair. am/df