SaS: Dolinkova's Resignation Should Have Come Much Sooner

Bratislava, October 4 (TASR) - Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova's (Voice-SD) resignation should have come much sooner, said representatives of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party in reaction to the resignation announced by Dolinkova earlier on Friday. "We've been demanding her resignation since the summer. Her number of instances of misconduct, which were sufficient reason for her to leave the post, were eventually completed by the consolidation package and resignations of medical staff as an imaginary last nail in the coffin of an incompetent health minister," SaS leader Branislav Groehling told a news conference on Friday. According to Groehling, the outgoing minister by her statement on Friday de facto admitted that the approved consolidation will cause the health-care sector to collapse. "She confirmed that the Slovak health-care sector is also a victim of consolidation," he stated. MP Tomas Szalay (SaS) has called on President Peter Pellegrini to accept the resignation. He described Dolinkova's year at the helm of the Health Ministry as a lost year. Despite her experience in the sector, she failed to implement her visions, stated Szalay. In his opinion, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) significantly 'helped along' Dolinkova's resignation as well. "Not only because the health-care sector didn't become a prime-ministerial issue, but also because the government gave space to various people of the 'Kotlar kind' - disinformers," added Szalay. [Peter Kotlar is Government Proxy for Investigation into COVID-19 Pandemic Management - ed. note] At the same time, the liberals called on the premier to replace Dolinkova with a capable person who will have the potential to push through important changes in the health-care sector. Dolinkova announced her decision to step down from her post on Friday. She plans to hand in her resignation to President Peter Pellegrini very soon. She said that she doesn't feel support for her goals and measures aimed at improving health care. The outgoing minister also blasted the consolidation measures approved by Parliament. ko/df