The political life of former president (1993-98) Michal Kováč was the story of a brave man, said his former advisor Pavol Demeš in a speech at the Requiem Mass that formed part of Kováč's state funeral on Thursday. Kováč was a person who was present at the birth of the independent Slovakia, and he made a key contribution towards its European future, said Demes. Meanwhile, Kováč's death last week revived a passionate debate on the political crimes of the 1990s and the fact that they've remained unpunished. "We still owe something to him and first lady Emilia Kovacova," said Demeš. The scrapping of Vladimir Mečiar's amnesties for those who were involved in the kidnapping of Kováč's son Michal in 1995 should become a top state priority. "We know who was behind that thanks to investigative journalists," said Demeš, calling on President Andrej Kiska, Premier Robert Fico and Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko to take the necessary steps concerning the issue.
No other Slovak constitutional official had to make such difficult and painful decisions within such a short period of time as former president (1993-98) Michal Kováč, said current President Andrej Kiska in a speech at a Requiem Mass for Kováč at St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava on Thursday. The political evil of the 1990s in Slovakia was partly defeated thanks to Kováč's words and actions, said Kiska. The incumbent president recalled what Kováč said in 1994; that those who thought that he'd let himself be intimidated and disgusted from carrying out his duties as president were wrong. "When saying those words, he certainly didn't know what a test of his decision he'd soon face. The then-governing power stopped at nothing, not even at abducting his son," said Kiska. As he added, nobody who's responsible for public affairs should consider the crimes of the reign of Vladimir Mečiar as a thing of the past.
One positive thing is that late ex-president Michal Kováč (1993-98) and I never felt malice towards each other, stated another former head of state Ivan Gašparovič (2004-14) before the state funeral of the first Slovak president in Bratislava on Thursday. "We were able to agree on things and understand each other," Gašparovič told journalists. In his bid for presidential office in 2004, Ivan Gašparovič beat his close ally Vladimir Mečiar. Nevertheless, Gašparovič thinks that there's no point in moves to scrap the amnesties announced by former Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Mečiar [as acting president] in 1998 concerning those accused of kidnapping Kováč's son Michal Kováč Jr. in 1995.
"But, as [a motion to scrap] the amnesties is about to be submitted (in Parliament), MPs will have to decide on this. I think, however, that it wouldn't be approved by the Constitutional Court," said Gašparovič.
Another former president, Rudolf Schuster (1999-2004) will always remember Kováč as a friend. "I've come to bid a dignified farewell to him, as it should be," said Schuster at the state funeral. For him, the scrapping of Mečiar's amnesties makes sense. "It should have already been done," he stated.
Mečiar's government was replaced by the coalition led by Mikuláš Dzurinda as the new Prime Minister. At Michal Kováč's state funeral on Thursday he appreciated the late president's significant contribution to the fact that Slovakia is a fully-fledged European state today. Dzurinda harbours the conviction that addressing the cancellation of Vladimir Mečiar's 1998 amnesties is still relevant even almost two decades later.
