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Smer Respects Decision on SDKU Financing Case, But Has Own Opinion
Wednesday 05 January 2011 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 5 (TASR) - The opposition Smer-SD party respects the decision of the Special Prosecutor's Office to halt the investigation into the coalition SDKU-DS party's financial practices, even though Robert Fico's party reserves its own opinion on the matter, Smer spokesperson Silvia Glendova said on Wednesday.
However, the party won't comment on the decision made by Special Prosecutor Jan Sant, in contrast to the habits of certain coalition politicians, said Glendova.
According to Sant, SDKU has fully backed up its claims that it received and repayed a loan in a standard manner by submitting relevant accounting documents and annual reports.
It was Smer chairman Robert Fico who pointed to the alleged shady financing practices of SDKU in early 2010, stating repeatedly that Mikulas Dzurinda's party was laundering dirty money. SDKU rejected this, describing Fico's statements as an attack with a view to the parliamentary elections. The case culminated with Dzurinda taking his name off the party slate for the general election in June. This opened the way for incumbent Prime Minister Iveta Radicova to become the party's election leader following primary elections.
Smer faced similar accusations of shady financing in June. A recording dating back several years emerged featuring a voice deemed to be similar to Fico's boasting about securing millions of Slovak crowns for the party. The investigation into that case was halted by Special Prosecutor Dusan Kovacik.
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