The Opposition parties are hopeful that incoming Speaker of Parliament Peter Pellegrini will head Parliament in a less arrogant fashion than his predecessor Pavol Paška.
"I expect the fresh blood to bring something new to Parliament; more refined ways of dealing with the Opposition”, said head of Christian Democrat (KDH) caucus Pavol Abrhan before admitting that Pellegrini's nomination to the post had caught him somewhat by surprise. Abrhan's view was echoed by Richard Sulík, a Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MEP and former parliamentary chairman himself. He said that the fact that the governing Smer-SD party resorted to Pellegrini”, who has barely had the time to grasp the situation in the education sector”, proves how desperate Smer is when it comes to nominations. Pellegrini became Education Minister in early July after previously holding the position of Deputy Finance Minister.
Head of the Most-Hid caucus Laszlo Solymos said that he's sorry that Pellegrini is vacating the post of education minister. "Frankly, things have moved forward since he took over”, said Solymos. SDKU-DS's Ľudovít Kaník said that Pellegrini is expected to mend the name of Fico's Smer, which has been greatly tarnished with corruption.
On Monday Prime Minister and Smer party leader Robert Fico justified his proposal for the post of Speaker of Parliament by saying that "Peter Pellegrini is a member of a generation of politicians who have a longer political future than my generation. It's only natural to let into positions politicians who may prove to be the right choices. He's been with Smer-SD since its creation, he's been through various levels.”
