Parliament Again Fails to Open Debate on Ouster of Investment Minister

Bratislava, 16 June (TASR) - Lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon again failed to open a special emergency House session on an opposition no-confidence motion in Investment, Regional Development, and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent). At the fourth attempt, only 53 MPs registered their presence, while at least 76 lawmakers are required for proceedings to begin. Parliamentary Vice-chair Martin Dubeci (Progressive Slovakia) subsequently closed the session due to the chamber lacking a quorum. Coalition representatives announced in advance that they wouldn't allow separate debates on motions to dismiss individual cabinet members and would instead combine several such motions into a single special House session. The no-confidence motion in Migal was initiated by Progressive Slovakia (PS), with a respective proposal being signed by all the parliamentary opposition parties. They criticised Migal mainly for what they view as the non-transparent renewal of the Slovensko.sk website for more than €90 million, as well as mistakes in the call from the recovery plan worth almost €60 million, which was designed to support research and development in Slovakia's digital transformation. In addition, they've criticised the unsatisfactory rate of EU funds uptake under his tenure and blame him for the poor state of drawing EU funds. Migal has called the motion seeking his dismissal a "cheap and embarrassing opposition political spectacle". In its response, the Investment Ministry stated that the opposition has failed to present any relevant objections to the ministry's conduct under its current leadership. am/df