THE OPPOSITION attracted some 3,000 people to come to the SNP Square in Bratislava to participate in another protest against the embezzlement of public funds in the health sector on November 17, the Sme daily reported.
Protests are related to a recent scandal involving the purchase of an overpriced CT scanner by Piešťany Hospital. The case has already cost former health minister Zuzana Zvolenská and former deputy speaker of parliament Renáta Zmajkovičová, who led the supervisory board of the Piešťany hospital, their posts. Pavol Paška of Smer also announced his resignation from the post of speaker of parliament during the election night in the early morning of November 16.
People were chanting “We are not anarchists,” in response to Paška who spoke about anarchists when he was tendering his resignation related to protests which took place in Bratislava and Košice last week. More than 1,000 people gathered in Bratislava to demand Paška’s resignation on November 14 in a protest organised by independent MP Alojz Hlina. The first similar protest was organised by the MP in Košice before Paška’s house where around 300 people gathered on November 11, according to the TASR newswire.
The organisers of the protest, MPs Alojz Hlina, Igor Matovič of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), Daniel Lipšic of Nova and Ľubomír Galko of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), put on the paper requirements that they want to submit to Prime Minister Robert Fico on November 19, according to Sme.
They have introduced three of them so far: the law according to which the state cannot trade with phony companies, another law that would stop political nominations and proposal to create parliamentary commission from investigating the Gorilla case, an unverified transcript purporting to originate from conversations covertly recorded by the country’s SIS intelligence service between 2005 and 2006.
Actors of the Slovak National Theatre also protested against the situation in the health sector and criticized Paška. Lipšic read their message to protesters. If the Prime Minister ignores their requirements the MPs are preparing a march to the building of parliament, Sme reported.
Source: Sme, 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.
