Premier to face No-confidence motion

Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) will face a no-confidence motion in Parliament on Friday, September 6. The motion is to be preceded by a parliamentary session at which new MPs will take up their mandates, replacing those who have gone on to the European Parliament. The Coalition Council is also expected to meet this week. Opposition MPs filed the motion because the prime minister did not dismiss Monika Jankovská from the post of Justice Ministry state secretary. The opposition is demanding her ouster for her alleged contacts with entrepreneur Marián K., who has been charged with ordering the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak, in which his fiancée Martina Kušnírová was also killed. The prime minister has repeatedly stated that if the suspicions regarding Jankovská are confirmed, he would ask Justice Minister Gábor Gál (Most-Hid) to propose her dismissal. Justice Minister Gábor Gál has said he will file a motion to dismiss Monika Jankovská from her post as soon as unofficial information is confirmed. If Smer-SD, which nominated Jankovská, insists that she remain in her post after the information is irrefutably confirmed, Gál will consider his future as justice minister. According to information from state media company RTVS, Monika Jankovská has announced she would hold a press conference on Tuesday, 2 pm.