SaS Slams PM's Claims About EU Referendum and Decision on Environment Ministry

Bratislava, 9 November (TASR) - Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Branislav Groehling rejected Premier Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) claim that the 52-percent turnout in the referendum on Slovakia's EU accession was 'pure fabrication' and called on the Statistics Office to defend itself by filing a criminal complaint. Groehling was responding to the remarks made by Fico on social media on Sunday (8 November). "What Robert Fico is saying about the EU referendum are delusions and outright lies. Robert Fico has completely lost touch with reality, and it is high time for him to bid farewell to Slovak politics," stated Groehling. According to SaS, the best response to Fico's statements is to enshrine Slovakia's EU and NATO membership directly in the Slovak Constitution. "We will submit this proposal in Parliament once again. Let all the MPs show their true colours and make clear whether they support our EU membership or not," he added. Groehling views the premier's decision to return the mandate to manage the Environment Ministry to President Peter Pellegrini as an escape from responsibility. "This is simply an attempt to shed responsibility at a time when we are learning about the huge bonuses that were awarded at the ministry," said the SaS chairman. Furthermore, he views this as part of a power struggle ahead of Tuesday's (10 November) parliamentary vote. Fico on Sunday commented on his Friday's (6 November) statement, claiming that the referendum on Slovakia's EU accession wouldn't have been successful had it not been rigged. He described the reported voter turnout of more than 52 percent as pure fabrication, pointing to the development of voter turnout over the first and second days of the referendum. The premier also announced that he'll return the mandate to manage the Environment Ministry to President Peter Pellegrini on Monday, suggesting that the ministry should be headed by a nominee of the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS). He said that he doesn't wish the dispute between SNS leader Andrej Danko and former environment minister Tomas Taraba to continue at his expense. ko/mcs