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Fico: I See No Reason to Dismiss Kalinak Over Explosives Scandal
Sunday 10 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
(STV, January 10, 'O Pat Minut Dvanast')
Prime Minister Robert Fico, speaking on Slovak Television's (STV) politics show 'O 5 Minut 12' ('5 Minutes to 12') on Sunday, said that he doesn't see any reason to dismiss Interior Minister Robert Kalinak over the explosives incident on January 2 – in which a airport security training exercise went badly wrong and resulted in a Slovak man being detained in Dublin with explosives in his luggage.
"Kalinak's bad luck was that a person - an individual police officer - failed during a dog-training exercise while he was in office," said Fico. According to him, such cases have happened in other countries, such as in France a few years ago, for example.
Fico thinks that no other minister has done as much for the Interior Ministry as Kalinak. At the same time, he claimed that several factors have been forgotten in connection with this case - for example, how is it possible that a pilot who knew that he had a sample of explosives on board his plane flew to another state. Fico also backs Kalinak's decision to stop this type of dog training exercise.
President Ivan Gasparovic also agrees with the decision. "It's nonsense from the legal point of view for me, as a regular passenger, to be part of such training without being informed about it, without giving my consent to it," he said. According to him, the responsibility for this incident should fall mainly on the shoulders of the person who okayed this type of training, which, according to him, appears not to be Kalinak.
"I'm convinced that nobody will dismiss any minister," said Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paska in reference to a possible no-confidence vote in Kalinak that the opposition parties are considering.
As far as the upcoming parliamentary elections are concerned, Fico rejects any prognoses. "In 2010 we want a government that could have a smaller number of coalition members than it has now. It would be of benefit to the country if it were possible to form a government from only two political parties," he stated. At the same time, he noted that despite turbulence, the stability of the Government is currently very good, and he refused to ponder possible post-election co-operation between individual parties.
"I'm sure that the Smer-SD party will win the elections, and continuity will depend on the party's policy and the policy of other political parties that will make it to Parliament," said Gasparovic.
According to Paska, the most important thing is the high level of stability that has accompanied the whole electoral term. "And it is thanks to the fact that we have found an effective dialogue between the coalition partners," he said.
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