'Slovakia' Party Collects Signatures to Initiate Ouster of Robert Kalinak

Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) - Opposition's 'Slovakia' party collected more than 30 MP signatures needed to initiate a no-confidence motion in Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), whom they would like to oust because he has chosen not to include a villa in Croatia in his property declaration, TASR learnt on Wednesday. According to the Rules of Procedure, a special emergency session of Parliament on the agenda must be held within seven days. 'Slovakia' chair Igor Matovic underlined that a public functionary cannot put his personal interests before public interest when serving in his post and Kalinak did so, when he willfully chose not to include the villa ownership in his property declaration because he allegedly wanted to protect the privacy of his family. Chair of the House Conflict of Interest Committee Veronika Remisova ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU) emphasized that it's evident that Kalinak has violated the law willfully. Kalinak avers that Remisova violated her powers by publishing confidential information for political gain at a press conference. In his view, the committee chair shouldn't misuse confidential information, and if any breach of the law is found, the committee should convene to discuss the matter behind closed doors first and only subsequently report the outcome. To this, Remisova reiterated that she has never published any information about the property owned by relatives. Smer-SD lawmakers announced their decision to oust Remisova as the committee head, claiming that she's violated the law and the Constitution. Smer-SD conceded that the post of committee chair should belong to the opposition, but stated that Remisova can't stay in it. mf