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Dzurinda Says Smer Allegations Case of Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Tuesday 02 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 2 (TASR) - Opposition SDKU-DS chief Mikulas Dzurinda, facing accusations over the privatisation of the Crowne Plaza hotel while in government from 2002-06, hit back at Prime Minister Robert Fico later Tuesday, saying the financial group the Government actively works with is founder of the London-based Diamond Hotels, owner of Crowne Plaza (formerly Hotel Forum).
On Monday, Fico accused SDKU-DS that its people privatised the formerly government's hotel through the aforementioned British company.
Links to the J&T are culpatory Dzurinda said, adding that Fico is guilty of extremely dirty practices. "Let the Prime Minister go and ask J&T ... why they founded that company," said Dzurinda challenging Premier Fico.
Allegations that SDKU-DS privatised Hotel Forum are just as ludicrous as the fact that Allied Wings and Destor Investments – linked to SDKU-DS treasurer Igor Kucej – are headquartered in the same address proves nothing. There are hundreds of companies headquartered there, he pointed out.
Dzurinda, Slovakia's longest serving (1998-2006) premier, noted that Smer-SD had borrowed Sk10 million (€330,000) prior to 2002 from the bank owned and operated by J&T. It was also J&T whose leaders forbade Premier Fico in 2008 from sacking Finance Minister Jan Pociatek over the information leak about the change of the central parity of the Slovak crown.
According to Dzurinda, Prime Minister continues to play his phony games while it is precisely his dirty practices that are devastating Slovakia's political culture. "If there is anything threatening democracy, then it is the manufacturing of the monstrous fabrications that he has no compunction about offering up to citizens from the premises of Government Office," said Dzurinda.
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