Controversial MP Igor Matovic, who got into parliament with the SaS party but is now independent, is stirring up trouble again after the comments he made that all political parties are corrupt, referring to their crony practices.
Following his statements, the Attorney General’s office was interested in hearing what he had to say and what exactly he knew concerning cases of corruption, and so it called him in for an interview on Friday 29 July. Matovic said he felt like he was at confession, and that he had divulged everything he knew at the meeting.
Matovic’s biggest gripe is how political parties all too often abuse their power to give posts or contracts to their sponsors, families, party members or even leaflet distributors, even though they may not possess the necessary expertise. He calls this corruption and believes that the Attorney General’s Office will adopt the same opinion and do its job.
Matovic claims that those appointed to some post then show their “appreciation” via various perks, preferential treatment, public procurement awards, the right decisions, party sponsoring and the like. He is pointing his finger both at opposition and coalition parties.
At the two and a half hour grilling with Jozef Centes, who was voted in as Attorney General but is still waiting on the President’s approval, Matovic mentioned specific cases and specific names, and he will back up some of his claims also with written proof.
Matovic holds the opinion that posts should be filled by qualified and independent experts, and not the cronies of those in political parties. He even called himself a “bad mate”, as he had not helped any of his friends who had tried to get him to help them through preferential treatment.
Matovic also wants the four coalition parties to disclose which political nominations they have made, but claims that they are not too keen on this, with the exception of the SaS party, which announced that it has no problem releasing such information provided all its coalition partners agree.
Matovic is trying to change the established system in Slovakia where mutual back-scratching is accepted as common practice, and he is confident that the Attorney General’s Office will concur. He referred to his actions as the first dose of chemotherapy to rid Slovakia of the cancer of cronyism.
[…] The list is part of Matovic’s ongoing crusade against the cancer of political cronyism in Slovakia, after he declared all political parties corrupt back in July, followed by a testimony given at the Attorney General’s Office. […]