PS Urges Gov't to Avoid Major Long-term Spending Decisions

Bratislava, 25 September (TASR) - Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party calls on the current government not to make decisions with a major impact on future financing for the remainder of its term, as it no longer has the mandate or legitimacy to do so, PS leader Michal Simecka declared at a press conference on Friday. PS pointed to divisions and disputes within the governing coalition. "Whatever they agree on now — whether we're talking about new purchases in the defence sector, the Winter Harbour, a nuclear power plant or a major irrigation project that they want to hand over to the United Arab Emirates — all these projects will now be about their own rackets, through which they will blackmail each other. But they'll also bind the next government and burden and indebt all people of Slovakia, their children and grandchildren. Therefore, we call on the government and the relevant ministers to stop making these decisions and refrain from signing major, costly contracts without consulting the opposition and experts for the remainder of this term," he stated. Simecka believes the government lacks the legitimacy to make decisions with a significant financial impact. He also pointed to its divisions. "The coalition started as three political parties, Smer, Voice and SNS, which promised stability. Today there're so many entities there that people are quickly losing track," he said. Because of this, he urged the government to focus on ensuring the proper functioning of the state rather than costly projects. "They should draft the budget, address security and try to restart the economy, which they have destroyed," he added. MP and party vice-chair Tomas Valasek pointed out that no other government ministry has as much discretionary funding as the Defence Ministry. "A billion euros in capital expenditure annually. That's more than all the other ministries combined. At the same time, no ministry has such a carte blanche in spending such a huge amount of money as defence. It has an exemption whereby weapons do not necessarily have to be procured through competitive tendering, they're not assessed by the Value for Money Unit, and a large part of the budget is simply classified," he pointed out. He criticised Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) for spending money illogically and in a chaotic manner, calling on him to stop "throwing money around". "Nobody wants to leave the army to fend for itself, especially in these difficult times, but leaving it to Kalinak to manage is not a solution, it's like a punishment," he added. mf