Drucker: Lingering House Chair Vacancy Not Good Signal

Bratislava, December 13 (TASR) - The fact that the coalition still hasn't managed to elect the new House chair since April, even though the aspiration was to do so by the end of the year, doesn't send out a good signal, Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) conceded before a session of the government on Friday. A dialogue on the issue within the coalition is pending, however, and what's important is that bills get passed in Parliament, added Drucker. The minister also voiced appreciation for new legislation that makes it possible to declare a 'critical health-care shortage' situation to force doctors to work or be held criminally liable. He accentuated that this is a special emergency measure that no one wants to apply. "But if no deal is reached, Slovakia really could run the risk of having to declare a state of emergency in order to ensure the constitutional right [to health care] for citizens, as was done by the government of Iveta Radicova (2010-12), and that is a much worse solution in terms of intervention in the rights of all citizens, employers and businesses," he claimed, adding that the priority is to arrive at an agreement with doctors. Drucker urged doctors not to leave their patients without health care. Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) believes that there's no need to feel alarmed, as the majority of bills have been passed through Parliament without hurdles. Takac added that no coalition ever operates ideally. "I think that things will go much better next year," he told journalists. mf/df