President Andrej Kiska addressed Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday morning following the recent ministerial changes due to the alleged corruption scandal in the healthcare sector, but also due to the anti-corruption protests taking place around the country.
“I’m aware why the changes took place and under which circumstances. As president, I’ve received the resignations of two cabinet members and sworn in two more, all in a matter of weeks”, said President Kiska, adding that he supports the reasons behind the protests but not when they intrude on the private lives and the homes of members of parliament, alluding to the protests which took place outside Pavol Paška’s private resident last week following his alleged implication into the purchase of a grossly overpriced CT scanner for the Alexander Winter Hospital in Piešťany earlier this month.
“People have the right to protest and these people are the ones who need protection. We must not show them disrespect and we must listen to them; to the discontent, of course as long as these protests are peaceful and if they do not invade the right to privacy for children and families”.
The president also drew attention to the issue of alleged corruption in the healthcare sector, and how the public need to be won over by putting them first, instead of last.
“People expect the very rapid depoliticisation of the healthcare system. They expect a thorough and complete inquiry into every single case of an overpriced or ineffective purchase, and of every single non-transparent contract signed by the state-owned health insurance company”, added the president.
President Kiska also mentioned the swearing-in of the new speaker of parliament Peter Pellegrini, who was previously the minister of education, and how the education ministry has seen three changes in leadership in recent times.
“In the span of only a few months, the education sector has moved onto its third leading minister. I’ll repeat what I said yesterday with a little exaggeration: I wish that our school system would be at least as dynamic as the replacement of our ministers of education”, said the president.
