Based on an opposition initiative, the Slovak Parliament on Wednesday launched a discussion to strive to dismiss Finance Minister Jan Pociatek. The Speaker of Parliament convened the special session at the request of 32 deputies from the center-right opposition parties SDKU-DS and KDH. The opposition did not accept the demand of House Speaker Pavol Paska, who insisted that they withdraw the proposal to convene the session, as it is absolutely clear that the reasons for which they demanded Mr. Pociatek's resignation had already lapsed. Mr. Paska emphasized Tuesday's statement by the Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), Ivan Sramko, who said that the information on the change in the Slovak crown's central parity toward the euro was known only on May 28 afternoon. Mr. Paska insisted that the reason for the special session that the opposition stated in its explanatory note, namely that Mr. Pociatek allegedly could have leaked information on the change in the parity to financial groups, is simply not viable. Based on this information, deals reportedly took place on the FOREX market. Mr. Paska insists that the opposition should have thrown out the idea of holding a special session in the name of common sense and purity of Slovak parliamentarianism.
The opposition suggests that the fact that a close circle of people consisting of top state functionaries received the confidential information makes the situation even more serious. According to petitioners, the scandal that surfaced around the potential leak in information on the change of the central parity would be reason enough in a normal country to necessitate Mr. Pociatek's immediate resignation.
The opposition drew attention to the fact that NBS Governor Ivan Sramko confirmed that a few hours before the adjustment of the central parity from 35.4424 SKK/EUR to 30.126 SKK/EUR, deals in which atypically high volumes were traded took place on the FOREX market. According to the central bank, 467 deals took place at about USD 1.2 billion (SKK 24.5 billion). It is believed that the private equity group J&T earned a lot on the FOREX market deals before the parity change. A few days before the parity changed, Minister Pociatek was a guest on a yacht of the financial group in Monaco. The opposition listed links between the ruling SMER-SD, which nominated Mr. Pociatek to his post, and J&T. In 2001, the party was allegedly provided a loan by J&T Banka. The electronic toll collection tender favorite, the company Ibertax, has close contacts with J&T. Bratislavska Teplarenska, owned by the government privatization agency the FNM, deposited the SKK 1 billion it acquired from the sale of its landplots in J&T Banka. The opposition pointed out several personnel links between J&T and the nominees of the ruling coalition, as well.