List of author's articles, page 11
Scratching the surface
GIVEN the state of the education sector in Slovakia and the challenges it faces, many would agree that Dušan Čaplovič deserved to be sacked as education minister. While Prime Minister Robert Fico offered no forthright explanation as to why Čaplovič was asked to quit and why Tomáš Malatinský will no longer serve as economy minister, it seems apparent that they were thrown overboard for the wrong reasons.
Harabin's shuffling haunts judiciary
BACK IN 2009, then supreme court president Štefan Harabin changed the composition of a Supreme Court senate which looked into complaints against the decisions of ministries and state offices. The Constitutional Court recently ruled that his decision violated the right of railway freight carrier Cargo to a randomly selected judge, the Sme daily reported, suggesting that the senate’s rulings are now vulnerable to further challenges.
Water exports may be banned
RESPONDING to a populist outcry, the ruling Smer party is considering adding a ban on exporting water into the country’s constitution. It would come with an exception for humanitarian emergencies, and the policy represents a sudden turn from discussions that have taken place in parliament in recent weeks.
Kiska rejects all but one Smer-nominated judge
ONLY one of the six candidates nominated in a Smer-dominated vote in April to serve on the Constitutional Court for the next 12 years has met expectations that President Andrej Kiska and his team of advisors set for the top court. Thus Kiska will appoint only Supreme Court judge Jana Baricová, nominated by former president of the Supreme Court Štefan Harabin, to the Constitutional Court, where three judges will wrap up their term on July 4.
Smer unveils economic package
LOWER gas prices, a higher minimum wage and a Christmas bonus, lower levies for mid and low income employees, the introduction of a minimum pension, the option to simultaneously receive a wage and welfare on a temporary basis and boosting the capacity of kindergartens, are all part of a package of measures that the ruling Smer party is now outlining halfway through its term.
Smer gets partial makeover
SPECULATION on a shakeup in Smer on the heels of Robert Fico’s unsuccessful presidential run and amid falling approval ratings had been flying in the air for months. Smer officials however kept denying that any major reshuffles were in the pipeline, and that any changes would be related to Smer’s poorer than expected performance in the regional elections and the vote to the European Parliament – not Fico. Nevertheless, two ministers of Smer’s one-party government, Education Minister Dušan Čaplovič and Economy Minister Tomáš Malatinský, stepped down on July 2, just days after Smer held an extraordinary party congress.
Smer alters Supreme Court selection process
WHEN Štefan Harabin failed on May 19 in his bid for re-election as the head of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council, the body that oversees the country’s judiciary, the public learned the names of those in the council who supported the incumbent, as well as those who voted against him. This might not be possible when the Judicial Council makes another attempt in mid-September, however, as the ruling Smer party pushed through a change on June 24 to make the process a secret ballot.
Harabin gets low marks for time as top judge
DISSEMINATING fear among judges, controversial disciplinary proceedings, the sidelining of reformers and a “whip and honey” mentality are snapshots of the lengthy career of Štefan Harabin as the president of Supreme Court, according to comments from a number of experts addressed by The Slovak Spectator. When asked about positive contributions Harabin has made to the state of judiciary in Slovakia, one of his successors to the post of justice minister, Lucia Žitňanská, listed his engagement in the protection of consumers as minister. Another former justice minister Daniel Lipšic could not name a single positive contribution.
Exploring new ways to expand ties
EVEN though Denmark is closing its diplomatic mission in Slovakia due to budgetary constraints, Danish Ambassador Christian Konigsfeldt believes that Slovakia and Denmark, “both relatively small countries in size and population, but definitely great nations”, will succeed in finding new ways to expand their ties. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Konigsfeldt about Copenhagen’s green success and Denmark’s high ranking in the area of employment culture, as well as Danish farmers in Slovakia and his impressions of the country which he will soon be leaving.
Theatrics trumping politics
IGOR Matovič, suffering from an acute case of political exhibitionism, has accused a rising right-leaning political star with an inflated ego of murky financing of his presidential campaign, which brought Radoslav Procházka enough popularity to beat his former mother party in recent polls. The political melodrama, which already involves lie detector testing, secret recordings and claims of political assassination, would be entertaining if it didn’t actually reflect the misery of centre-to-right-wing parties in Slovakia.
Kiska changes Judicial Council
IN ONE of his first moves after being sworn in, President Andrej Kiska recalled on June 18 three members of the Judicial Council nominated by his predecessor Ivan Gašparovič, replacing the trio in the 18-member top judicial body overseeing the courts with his own nominees. Ján Klučka, Jozef Vozár and Elena Berthotyová replaced Eduard Bárány, Gabriela Šimonová and Mária Bujňáková, with Bárány resigning one day earlier from the council on his own, saying he does not want to be associated with Kiska.
Smer leadership to undergo shuffle
RUMOURS of changes within the Smer party leadership have swirled since Prime Minister Robert Fico’s failed presidential campaign, and are reemerging again ahead of the ruling party’s June 28 congress.
Designing a diverse society
GENDER equality is a win-win situation, with much of the male population feeling better with more time with the family, suggests Nils Daag, who represents Sweden, one of the most gender equal societies in the world. He stresses that “this is the future from every perspective”. The Slovak Spectator discussed with the Swedish ambassador to Slovakia the issue of military cooperation between the two countries, economic links, Swedish design, the challenge presented by far right-wing parties across Europe and the role of the European Union in this context.
MPs ignore Dubovcová again
LESS than a dozen of 150 parliamentary deputies listened to Ombudswoman Jana Dubovcová present her annual report on June 10. As she discussed the state of human rights in Slovakia for nearly one hour, Dubovcová spoke to a near empty discussion hall that only began to fill, according to reports by the Sme daily, when a scheduled vote on the report approached. It was approved.
Valuing the teacher
TEACHERS are highly valued in Finland, with only 10 percent of the applicants accepted into teacher education programmes, explains Henna Knuuttila, who leads Finland’s diplomatic micro-mission in Bratislava, when asked about the top performance of her homeland in international education rankings. She also suggests that Finland’s challenging geographical location has made Finns natural problem solvers. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Knuuttila about education reform, innovation, Finland’s economic challenges as well as the potential of the tourism industry.
Gašparovič's adieu
IVAN Gašparovič is leaving the presidential seat that he occupied for a decade without any fond memories of the media, and he made sure everyone was made aware of this during his exit speech to parliament.
Gašparovič departs
THE REFUSAL to appoint Jozef Čentéš to the post of general prosecutor after he was lawfully elected by parliament, a cosy relationship with the Smer party and a formal approach to the presidential office are among the failings political analysts addressed by The Slovak Spectator listed when assessing the decade-long performance of Ivan Gašparovič as Slovakia’s head of state. When asked to name some positive contributions, political scientist and president of the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) Grigorij Mesežnikov said he does not see much. However, in situations where it was necessary to confirm Slovakia’s trans-Atlantic solidarity, Gašparovič mostly did his job, he said.
Gašparovič out, Kiska in
IVAN Gašparovič, the one-time right-hand man of controversial three-time prime minister Vladimír Mečiar, has wrapped up his decade-long tenure as president and Andrej Kiska is taking office.
Dzurinda, Mikloš quit SDKÚ
TWO-TIME prime minister Mikuláš Dzurinda and his right-hand man Ivan Mikloš are leaving the party they founded more than a decade ago. Dzurinda, who defeated the controversial prime minister Vladimír Mečiar in 1998, and Mikloš, who introduced the internationally acclaimed 19-percent flat tax, are quitting the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) due to what they call the failure of the new leadership to rejuvenate what was once the country’s strongest right-wing party.
State now lone SPP stakeholder
“PEOPLE do not have to worry that gas prices will rise,” Prime Minister Robert Fico said after the state became the sole shareholder of Slovakia’s gas giant, Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP).Formally, the process of purchasing the 49-percent share and managerial control from the Czech company Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH) was wrapped up at the June 4 general assembly of the SPP, which approved personnel changes to the top bodies of the strategic company.
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