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Radicova: I Won't Comment on or Explain SDKU Financing Scandal
Sunday 28 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
(TV Markiza, February 28, 'Na telo')
SDKU-DS vice-chair and the new No. 1 on the party's parliamentary election slate Iveta Radicova, speaking on TV Markiza's politics show 'Na Telo' on Sunday, said that she won't comment on or provide explanations for the scandal concerning the party's financing, adding that this issue is being dealt with by the Prosecutor-General and SDKU's budgetary committee.
Radicova also said that she can't pretend that the matter doesn't concern her, however. "I'm the party's vice-chair, but I only have second-hand information about the story from ten years ago", she stated, adding that if the allegations turn out to be true, consequences will have to follow.
This wasn't enough for Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), who was also appearing on the show. He is convinced that SDKU must explain the matter. "We view the resignation of (SDKU chairman) Mikulas Dzurinda from the party's parliamentary election slate as a confession. It's impossible to dismiss such an important topic as party-financing with a statement that the Prosecutor-General is dealing with it. The Prosecutor-General is handling the legal aspect of it. If you want to talk about morals, you should explain this (the case behind the scandal)", said Kalinak.
Radicova also said that she regrets the recent case concerning the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of euros from SDKU's coffers. She denied, however, that this information came to light due to any of her supporters attempting to harm her opponent in the primaries Ivan Miklos. "It's unbelievable nonsense, because neither of the candidates benefit from such a problem. It's a terrible construction," she announced, claiming that if she had indeed arranged the leak, she would have been going against herself. She also stated that she plans to pass rules that would prevent a similar situation from happening again.
Regarding Radicova's victory in the SDKU primaries, Kalinak claimed that nothing has changed for Smer. "What change? Dzurinda is the chairman, Miklos the vice-chair, and Radicova the leader of the candidate list. They all run as one team, so there hasn't been any change from our point of view," he said.
The minister doesn't agree that his party broached the SDKU financing scandal too soon, thereby losing Dzurinda as an easy target when he gave up his candidacy for the June parliamentary elections.
Radicova considers the greatest failure of the governing Coalition to be the introduction of an atmosphere of tension and the constant search for an enemy. "A culprit is always being sought, because it is more convenient. The atmosphere here doesn't really contribute to a standard political culture. Despite enormous sources of finances we have a high unemployment rate, regional differences have become deeper and living standards have worsened," she said.
Kalinak thinks that during its four years in opposition SDKU hasn't done anything else than try to smear the Government. "A global economic crisis is raging, and we're fighting it. The Government's role is not to resolve it, but to cushion it as much as possible. We haven't allowed people to feel it, we've tightened our belts mainly at the ministries," he added.
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