Monitor: Taraba Claims SNS and PS Agreed on His Ouster, Stohlova Rejects This

(TA3,'V politike', 24 May) Speaking on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) said he does not intend to step down and claimed there was an agreement between SNS and the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party to dismiss him in Parliament, adding that SNS leader Andrej Danko offered the post to Environment Ministry State Secretary Filip Kuffa. "They can replace me, that's their right, but I will not step down," stated Taraba, adding that he doesn't understand why Danko called him a good minister and manager a month ago. According to him, he is not a member of SNS because he was not accepted into the party. Furthermore, he noted that Danko has "absolutely any and all" information about the management of the ministry and cannot find a reason for his dismissal. Taraba says he's been running the ministry autonomously, meaning that he respects the law. His opponent on the show, PS deputy chair and MP Tamara Stohlova, rejected any agreement under which PS will submit a motion to dismiss Taraba, which would be supported by SNS MPs, in exchange for covering up the case involving the mother of PS leader Michal Simecka. Regarding the zoning proposals for national parks, she criticised Taraba for shifting the blame onto his subordinates, adding that he has failed to complete, in a year and a half, the proposed zoning of national parks based on the criteria he himself set during the revision of the recovery plan. Taraba responded by saying that Slovakia has met all the criteria, adding that he doesn't wash his hands of his subordinates; quite the contrary, he stands by their work. He added that there are no disputes between him and state secretaries Kuffa and his father Stefan Kuffa, explaining that he had only refused Stefan Kuffa's request to appoint his son as head of the Tatra National Park. According to Taraba, Danko approached Filip Kuffa with an offer that, following a potential cabinet reshuffle, he could become the head of the environment ministry if he says that "Taraba is bad". jrg