Fico faces no confidence vote

SINCE November 8, 18:30 an extraordinary parliamentary session has been running during which the opposition is looking to pass a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Robert Fico. It is historically the first session related to a no-confidence vote taking place at night; with several politicians having speeches more than one hour long, according to the Sme daily.

SINCE November 8, 18:30 an extraordinary parliamentary session has been running during which the opposition is looking to pass a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Robert Fico. It is historically the first session related to a no-confidence vote taking place at night; with several politicians having speeches more than one hour long, according to the Sme daily.

The Opposition claims that Fico’s Government has established a system that fosters corruption and clientelism and is transforming Slovakia from a Western-style democracy into an oligarchy. A select few are getting richer while most Slovaks are becoming poorer. This is the opposition’s third attempt to depose Fico since he took up his post in 2012, according to the TASR newswire.

The session came on the heels of the scandal of the dubious purchase of an overpriced CT scanner in Piešťany Hospital of Alexander Winter, which was announced shortly after parliament elections in March 2012, TASR reported on November 4. The case cost Health Minister Zuzana Zvolenská and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Renáta Zmajkovičová, who served as chair of the hospital’s supervisory board, their posts.

Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška set the session to take place late on Saturday which was condemned by opposition.

“This is unprecedented in the modern history of parliamentary democracy,” Christian and Democratic Union (KDH) head Ján Figeľ said, as quoted by TASR, about Paška’s decision to convene the session at such an unusual time.

Figeľ, who was in Berlin at a conference held to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, considers Paška’s move to be a show of power and a sign of a lack of political culture on the part of Smer-SD.

People holding candles gathered in front of the Parliament building on November 8, protesting against corruption and calling for Fico’s resignation, according to Sme.

The governing Smer-SD party is prepared to discuss the proposal to oust Prime Minister Robert Fico for as long as three days if that’s what the opposition believes is right, Smer leaders claimed at a press conference on November 9.

Source: TASR, Sme

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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