Opposition Lambasts Migal's Nomination for Post of Investment Minister

Bratislava, March 19 (TASR) - Representatives of the opposition have criticised the nomination of Samuel Migal as head of the Investment Ministry, with Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) chairman Branislav Groehling describing it as a disgrace for Slovakia and as proof that the rebellious MPs were only concerned about posts and not about people. "We mustn't forget that the rebellious MPs of the governing coalition obediently voted in favour of all controversial proposals, including amendments to the Penal Code, the consolidation package and the transaction tax. Thanks to them, the coalition has been repeatedly embroiled in internal political disputes over the past few months, which have finally been calmed down with the appointment of new ministers," stressed Groehling. In this context, Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka predicted that more rebels will appear in the coalition, with fewer and fewer posts available. "The rebellious MPs around Migal could choose between their own honour and posts. They chose the posts, as they did before, when voting on the penal law or on [public-service broadcaster] RTVS," he emphasised. According to MP Veronika Remisova ('Slovakia', 'For the People', KU), it is now clear that the fight for values, as translated by the governing coalition, means only a fight for posts. "For three months now we've been hearing from the group around Migal about values and disagreement with decisions and Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) foreign policy. However, this disagreement was only valid until they got the spoils in the form of a ministry," she said. President Peter Pellegrini is due to appoint Samuel Migal to the post of Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday. He should replace Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) in the post, who is set to become the House chair. On Tuesday (March 18), Fico signed an agreement with Independent MPs Samuel Migal and Radomir Salitros, who were expelled from Voice-SD. According to him, the agreement creates the conditions to ensure a stable majority for the governing coalition in Parliament. am/df