An extraordinary parliamentary session with a motion of no-confidence in Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák as the only item on the agenda will begin on Friday, January 29, at 14:00, parliamentary Vice-chairman Miroslav Číž announced on January 26, following a meeting of MPs.
According to Číž, the session has been set for Friday afternoon, when parliament does not normally sit, because the opposition submitted its request close to a Council of Europe (CoE) parliamentary session and also when Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška had an official visit to Vietnam scheduled.
"We sense manipulation behind [the late-Friday timing]," said the chairman of the opposition Christian Democrat (KDH) caucus, Pavol Hrušovský, who said he was afraid ruling coalition lawmakers would mostly ignore the extraordinary session. That could mean that parliament would be unable to vote after the debate, he told the TASR newswire.
According to parliamentary vice-chairman Milan Hort (an MP for the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), the largest opposition), it is likely that low participation will mean the vote has to be postponed until the regular session scheduled to begin on Tuesday, February 2.
The opposition initiated the dismissal attempt in response to an incident on January 2 in which an airport security exercise by the police went awry and a sample of high explosive was sent to Dublin in the luggage of an unsuspecting Slovak traveller. Kaliňák, as interior minister, is responsible for the police force. 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.
