Health Minister Viliam Čislák will face a no-confidence motion on Friday at the request of the Opposition which wants to dismiss him because of his alleged lack of willingness to bolster transparency in the sector and to fight corruption. Christian Democrat MP Július Brocka pointed out the case of the former director of the state-owned health insurer Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VsZP) Marcel Forai, who signed a contract with a company owned by his aunt. "We've been receiving information that such Aunt Ankas - models of nepotism and clientelism - can be found all across Slovakia", said Brocka, who maintains that Čislák has not done anything to prevent such cases from reoccurring. As evidence, Brocka cited the fact that even though the Health Minister dismissed Forai from his post, he subsequently replaced him with Miroslav Vadura, an individual who was employed at the insurance company during the time when the contract in question was signed and he knew about it. The Health Minister asked the Supervisory Office for Healthcare to investigate the accusations of mismanagement at Slovakia's largest health insurance company.
On Monday the extra-parliamentary party Sieť vice-chair Miroslav Beblavý accused Čislák's deputy Mario Mikloši of having conflicts of interest as he and his wife own a company which runs a urological outpatient facility that has signed contracts with the state insurance company. The law prevents all public officials from engaging in commercial activities with state-run companies, be it for their own benefit or for the benefit of kith and kin. The Health Ministry rejected the accusations saying that in December 2014, Mikloši stepped down from the leadership of the company, and his wife - who is entitled to sign such contracts - is the only managing director of the company. According to the commercial registry, Mikloši is only an associate. The Ministry has also rejected any claims that company's financial situation improved after Mikloši assumed the post of Deputy Health Minister.
