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Richard Sulik Becomes New Parliamentary Chairman (UPDATE 2)
Thursday 08 July 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, July 8 (TASR) - Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Richard Sulik became the new parliamentary chairman in a repeated secret ballot on Thursday, replacing Pavol Paska (Smer-SD) in the post.
In the repeated vote, 80 out of the 149 MPs present cast their votes in favour of Sulik. At least 76 votes are needed for a candidate to acquire the post.
After the vote, Paska immediately handed the reins to Sulik. "I wish you luck and spiritual stamina when leading this Parliament," Paska told Sulik in the official changing of the guard.
The support of 80 lawmakers means that Sulik gained at least one vote from the Opposition. SaS frontman became the 21st parliamentary chairman in Slovak history since 1848, and the fifth in the country's modern 18-year history – preceded by Ivan Gasparovic, Jozef Migas, Pavol Hrusovsky and Pavol Paska.
Opposition Smer-SD candidate Miroslav Ciz didn't succeed in his bid for the post, receiving only 62 votes. There are 62 Smer-SD MPs.
In his short, first address to the House after being elected into the second highest constitutional post in Slovakia's political system, Sulik called for maintaining cultivated manners in Parliament.
"I understand that our ideas may not mesh in most cases, but it's my guess that we should have a cultivated approach to issues. Slovakia's future is in your hands. It's up to you to decide if this is going to be a country with clear rules and zero tolerance to any form of abuse of power," said Sulik.
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