Taraba: Departure of Huliak and Co. from SNS Caucus Meant to Undermine Party

Bratislava, October 27 (TASR) - The departure of the MPs centered around Rudolf Huliak from the Slovak National Party (SNS) parliamentary caucus was meant to undermine the party in the coalition, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (an SNS nominee) said on television channel TA3's politcs show 'In Politics' on Sunday. "We won' grovel before them," Taraba said when asked whether he isn't concerned that the departure of the the three MPs from the SNS caucus might make it more difficult to pass coalition-sponsored bills in Parliament. According to Taraba, their votes will show whether they will really support bills meant to help the public. "SNS will continue to fulfil the government manifesto and won't give up any of the ministries under its management," he stressed. Taraba's opponent on the show, Progressive Slovakia (PS) MP Zuzana Mesterova noted that these developments and the fact that Smer-SD MP Dusan Munko joined the SNS caucus in order for it to be preserved confirm that the government can't guarantee to keep its promises. "It cannot even guarantee its own stability," sai Mesterova. In this vein, the MP also criticised approved consolidation measures, opining that their form reflects the fact that the consolidation of public finances was the last concern of the government. "For the whole of its first year in power, it was mainly concerned with itself and helping its associates, and it only started to tackle consolidation in recent months," Mesterova remarked. As a result, she said, the government has placed the entire burden of consolidating public finances on the public. Taraba claimed that the inevitable consolidation is a consequence of the previous governance of the current opposition. He also told Mesterova that former prime minister Ludovit Odor drafted a proposal for much harsher consolidation measures which, if implemented, would erode social standards. Mesterova reacted by stating that Odor's government prepared a draft from which specific measures could be selected. zel