House: Opposition Speaks about Governing Coalition Splitting in Live Broadcast

Bratislava, September 25 (TASR) - The governing coalition is falling apart "in a live broadcast", said opposition MPs on Wednesday in reaction to junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko's criticism of coalition partner Voice-SD. Danko stated that Voice-SD violated the coalition agreement when MPs of this party supported the objection filed by opposition MP Lucia Plavakova (Progressive Slovakia/PS) regarding her expulsion from the parliamentary chamber. Plavakova described the incident as an attack on her as an LGBTI person. "What SNS is displaying is absolutely unacceptable," stated PS caucus head Martin Dubeci. He said that the coalition is splitting up live and called it "a hodgepodge of hysterical, emotional men". He claimed that coalition representatives are bullying MPs and criticised the expressive language used at a press conference by MP Rudolf Huliak (SNS). Dubeci called on House Vice-chair Peter Ziga (Voice-SD), who is currently in charge of managing Parliament, as well as President Peter Pellegrini and Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), to start doing something about the situation. According to him, Danko's decision to expel Plavakova from the parliamentary chamber contradicted the Rules of Procedure. "He did it for the first time this term, it's an unprecedented decision," he said, ruling out that MPs for PS discussed support for Plavakova's objection with MPs for Voice-SD. Plavakova denied violating the Rules of Procedure, noting that she has a rainbow heart and a sticker from her daughter on her computer. "It's outrageous. He openly said that he objects to LGBT stickers," she said when commenting on Danko's behaviour. PS leader Michal Simecka labelled Plavakova's expulsion an "incredible shame". He claimed that Danko is "persecuting" Plavakova in an arbitrary manner and is in conflict with the Rules of Procedure. Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Branislav Groehling also spoke about a split in the coalition in a live broadcast. "This has been an issue for several weeks, and now you can see the result," he told journalists on Wednesday. At the same time, MP Maria Kolikova (SaS) condemned attacks against women in Parliament. SaS called on Huliak to resign as an MP. ko/df