Opposition parties SaS and 'Slovakia' have criticised their colleagues from PS, KDH and the non-parliamentary Democrats for ultimately failing to attend a joint press conference scheduled for Thursday.
The opposition is planning a joint rally on SNP Square in Bratislava on Saturday, 17 October. PS, KDH and Democrats said that they had been informed about the joint press conference at the last minute and that a misunderstanding had occurred. Both KDH and PS have announced that their representatives will attend the rally.
The rally is being organised by Alojz Hlina, an SaS lawmaker. He attended the announced joint press conference alongside fellow MP Maria Kolikova and Michal Šipoš, head of the parliamentary caucus of Slovakia–Za ludi. Hlina criticised the rest of the opposition for failing to attend, saying that this sent a negative signal.
"This country needs to send a clear signal that we can achieve something, that five parties can unite and come to the square. Can't we even manage that?" asked Hlina, adding that people deserved to see that an agreement has also been reached with the 'Slovakia' party.
Hlina also claimed that PS called representatives of KDH and Democrats to persuade them not to attend the joint statement. "Why does KDH listen to PS? I understand why Democrats listen to PS, but I no longer understand this," he added.
The MP recalled that the opposition held a rally on 17 September and said that it wanted to meet again on Saturday, followed by another event on 17 November. He expressed hope that representatives of all five parties will ultimately appear on the stage on Saturday. Šipoš said that 'Slovakia' representatives plan to attend the rally because it's necessary to send the public a signal of unity and cooperation.
PS vice-chair Beata Jurik later said that she hadn't been informed about the joint press conference. "This isn't how opposition cooperation is built – by failing to inform the other parties and by someone calling such a press conference," she said, underlining that partners must be notified of such steps sufficiently in advance.
She confirmed that PS representatives have agreed to attend the rally. Responding to the allegation that PS persuaded KDH and Democrats not to attend the joint statement, Jurik said that she considers it a major underestimation of the other opposition partners to suggest that anyone could order them what to do. In a statement, PS added that no representative of the party confirmed attendance at the press conference.
"When things like this happen, they need to be agreed upon both by communications departments and by politicians. This was a misunderstanding, and I don't understand why it should be portrayed as KDH having breached something or as us failing to cooperate. That isn't the case," said KDH MP Marian Čaučík at a briefing. He confirmed that he'll attend the rally on Saturday.
"We have certain procedures within the party, and as we were unaware of this press conference, we couldn't attend," added Igor Janckulik, head of the KDH parliamentary caucus.
Democrats criticised Hlina for what they described as his "arrogant attack on opposition partners". According to the party, the MP should have formally contacted those expected to speak at the press conference in good time before sending an invitation to journalists.
House chair Richard Raši of Hlas-SD party said that the opposition has demonstrated live that it's unable not only to govern but even to agree on a joint course of action and attend a press conference together. In his view, the current opposition isn't a viable alternative to the governing coalition.
"This has shown what Slovakia would look like under an opposition government," he stated at a Hlas-SD press conference.
