Fico discusses opposition and social measures during Smer’s congress

PROTESTS, a social measures package and the opposition were among the issues of the Smer congress held in Nitra on December 6. In his speech Prime Minister and Smer chairman Robert Fico said that the opposition does not know how to compete with Smer and all it can offer is hatred and an effort to paint the most negative possible picture of Smer.

PROTESTS, a social measures package and the opposition were among the issues of the Smer congress held in Nitra on December 6. In his speech Prime Minister and Smer chairman Robert Fico said that the opposition does not know how to compete with Smer and all it can offer is hatred and an effort to paint the most negative possible picture of Smer.

“According to the opposition, Smer MPs are riff-raff and Smer voters, idiots. We also make mistakes. In the whole history of Slovakia, no prime minister and no party has ever carried so much responsibility,” Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “I appreciate it, though, that no one from Smer-SD has allowed themselves to be drawn into the opposition’s programme of hatred. That doesn’t mean that we'll sit in silence and respect the opposition’s shenanigans, however.”

According to the Smer chair, there is a need to remind people who organise the ongoing protests against corruption in the healthcare sector of their past.

“These are often people who were part of Mikuláš Dzurinda’s and Iveta Radičová’s [2010-12] coalitions,” stressed Fico, pointing to the scandals that emerged under these governments.

Fico called on the Opposition to stop submitting pointless proposals to ouster individual government members and to stop the “Balkanisation” of politics.

“He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,” he said, addressing the self-proclaimed ‘Young Guns’ who have called people to protest on the streets in demand of his resignation.

Fico further went through Smer’s priorities for 2015 citing price stability, including in terms of gas charges for households. Smer also wants to continue the fight against unemployment, particularly among young people, and to ensure that salaries and the minimum wage continue to grow.

The first set of social measures were viewed in a positive light by the public, according to him, adding that another one must be introduced in 2015.

“We want more, and that’s why the decision has been made and the top leaders of the party must submit a second social package to the Smer Presidium by March 31, 2015,” said Fico, adding that before particular measures will be presented, the Finance Minister Peter Kažimír must say whether or not the government can afford them.

Source: TASR

Compiled by Roman Cuprik from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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