The Speaker of Parliament and chairman of Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS), Richard Sulík, misled Most-Híd chairman Béla Bugár and independent MP Igor Matovič (formerly from SaS) during the vote on the State Citizenship Act amendment, Bugár and Matovič stated after they had a recent chat in which they settled their differences, the TASR newswire wrote.
"We were misused," Bugár told TASR on Sunday, February 13, adding that Sulík misled Matovič when he told him that the Coalition Council agreed with his proposal, according to which the four MPs of the Ordinary People SaS faction would vote in favour of Matovič's amending proposal to the State Citizenship Act and the coalition would subsequently withdraw its own proposal.
Bugár also said Sulík had lied to Matovič when he told him that the Coalition Council allowed Matovič to vote for Smer's amendment to the act, while the other three Ordinary People MPs were to abstain. "There was no such agreement," Bugár stressed, adding that Matovič's proposal was also put into the minutes from the Coalition Council.
Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) caucus chairman Pavol Hrušovský rejected Matovič's proposal and the chairman of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), Mikuláš Dzurinda refused to even discuss it.
Bugár also objected that Matovic was told it was Bugár who had asked for his expulsion from SaS. "At the time I convened a press conference in which I called on Mr. Sulík and Mr. Hrušovský to take disciplinary action against the two MPs who voted for Fico's proposal Matovič had already been expelled."
Bugar condemned Sulík's conduct and said that cooperation will be more difficult from now on.
Contrary to what he said on Thursday in the immediate aftermath of the event, Matovič now said that he no longer likes Sulík because of “his lies”. He said he regretted blaming Bugár and the rest of the coalition. After settling their misunderstanding, Bugár and Matovič agreed to address the issue of the State Citizenship Act together, TASR reported.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
