Opposition deputies have sharply slammed Smer for having blocked the parliamentary session initiated to oust Justice Minister Tomáš Borec on Tuesday, November 20. The SITA newswire wrote that Smer sent only so many legislators to reach quorum provided that all but one opposition MPs had been present.
With only 10 Smer MPs appearing in parliament, there were 66 deputies present (with 11 absent from the opposition) instead of the 76 deputies required to hold a no-confidence vote on Borec. The situation was repeated when a second attempt to hold a vote was made one hour later, when 70 MPs were present (with seven opposition MPs absent). The TASR newswire wrote that Smer received whistling, booing, shouts and thumping from the opposition for their repeated blocking of the no-confidence vote on Borec. Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška then postponed the vote until the December session.
Opposition parties the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Most-Híd announced last Wednesday that they were submitting a proposal requiring that Borec be dismissed. The parties opted to make the move after parliament voted down the agenda of an special session devoted to discussing problems in the judiciary.
(Source: SITA, 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.
