In addition to the pandemic, which affected the whole world, we are also fighting a pandemic of election results in Slovakia. The election turned out differently than many imagined. Some prominent propagandists, posing as opinion-forming personalities, launched a campaign against the prime minister, which Slovakia had never experienced in its history.
It must be admitted that the Prime Minister, with his surprising and often unusual ideas and reactions, has frequently made it very easy for them. Criticism of power, especially on the top floor, is necessary and useful. However, it should not use ground floor or basement arguments such as half-truths, demagoguery and lies. Unpredictability and insidiousness are the dominant features of this pandemic, and it is not right to attribute these characteristics to governments that are more or less unsuccessful in fighting the pandemic all over the world.
Kidnapped country
Thanks to three governments led by Robert Fico, Slovakia got into the category of a "kidnapped country". A kidnapped country, along with everything that that implies. Kidnapping is considered a serious crime. However, the kidnappers, Fico and his ward and accomplice Pellegrini, are still at large and, disguised as regular politicians, calling for early elections. They are collecting signatures as part of a petition for a referendum on early elections. According to many reputable constitutional lawyers, the issue in the referendum is not in line with the constitution, as it concerns the shortening of the term. Early elections are existentially vital for these "politicians". The pressure from the oligarchs who have established, controlled and profited from these politicians is enormous. At stake is the state budget money, which they have been parasitizing for many years, and a real threat of prison for them, as well as for the political puppets they have been toying with.
Chaos due to a "polemic"
The governing coalition is made up of four rather diverse and not very standard parties, as was decided by the voters. There are always problems in a coalition, but in all my years I have never seen a member of the government call a press conference immediately after a meeting to publicly criticize the decisions of a government he is an integral part of. I am convinced that he should have been removed immediately after this press conference. A coalition partner in active opposition is too much even for Slovakia. He claims to be a liberal, although this is far from the case in the context of Europe. He is pushing for reconstruction of the government, especially the replacement of the prime minister, and at the same time claims that he definitely does not want early elections. This in itself is remarkable. He probably claims this mainly because ten years ago he managed to express distrust in his own government and provoke early elections. His opposition rhetoric doubled his election figures from six to thirteen percent. That is exactly the number of members he has in the current parliament. Having such parliamentary potential, publicly demanding the resignation of the prime minister of one’s own government does not indicate consistent thinking. This opposition stance of one coalition partner grew into a public debate of all coalition partners, including the president and virtually the whole general public. This public polemic should definitely have happened behind closed doors! Unfortunately, that did not happen and this "polemic" is causing unprecedented chaos in the country. At the same time, the pandemic is being misused for political competition, which is having a devastating effect on the society as a whole.
Respect the choices made
I see only one way out. Above all, respect the election results. The four political groupings that formed the coalition must change the rules of mutual communication. They must overcome political differences and implement the government programme they have, after all, agreed on. The difference in political power between the four parties is abysmal. The strongest of them has 53 MPs and the remaining three have 42 in total. Together they have a constitutional majority in the 150-strong parliament. Despite these differences in political weight, they should seek a path of partnership. Authoritarianism, on the one hand, or the hysteria stemming from feelings of inferiority, on the other, can destroy the chance for change that is needed and literally necessary. Any other alternative that could arise from meaningless early elections is worse or catastrophic. This alternative would result in the political death of the current governing parties and would, in the long run, throw Slovakia back into the hands of cynical traders, hypocrites and political fraudsters.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Milan Kňažko (born on 28th August 1945 in Horní Plachtiny) is a Slovak actor, but in the past he was also a the co-founder of the VPN and HZDS, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, the Vice Chairman of the Slovak Government and the Minister of Culture of Slovakia.
From 1970 to 1971, he was a member of the Drama Ensemble of the Theatre Studio. He played at the New Stage and was a member of the SND Drama Ensemble.
He entered politics in November 1989.
In 2016, he received the Czech Thalia Prize.
He is married for the third time and has three sons.
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