PRIME Minister Robert Fico has retained his job after the opposition’s attempt to dismiss him through a no-confidence motion in parliament failed on November 10, the TASR newswire learnt on the same day.
Only 53 out of 133 MPs present voted for Fico’s ouster at an extraordinary parliament session that began on the evening of November 8 and lasted more than 49 hours. This was the first uninterrupted session of Slovak parliament to take place over a weekend. Dozens of MPs took the floor during the course of the session, with Cabinet members also joining in.
Opposition parties sought Fico’s ouster, claiming that his Government has established a system that fosters corruption and clientism and is transforming Slovakia from a Western-style democracy into an oligarchy in which a select few are getting richer while most Slovaks are becoming poorer.
Fico claimed that the Opposition has run out of ideas when it comes to reaching out to people, so it is resorting to election campaign theatrics such as the “absolutely unsubstantiated proposal” to dismiss him, as quoted by TASR. In a speech that lasted almost an hour, Fico reminded the opposition of a string of scandals that emerged during the government of Iveta Radičová ruling from 2010-2012 which was basically made up of the current opposition.
Fico has previously faced two no-confidence motions: over the issue of ownership shares in gas utility SPP in September 2013, and then five months later over the lack of debate over the carbon-dioxide emission-quota scandal dating back as far as 2008, when Fico’s first government was in power between 2006-2010.
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.
