Marches against corruption are set to take place in at least two Slovak cities on Friday, June 6, according to the event organisers. The protests are being organised by secondary-school students Dávid Straka and Karolína Farská and Comenius University students Tomas Popovič and Robert Martin Hudec. Straka stated to the TASR news agency that they've decided to organise the upcoming, because their demands - the dismissals of Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar and Special Prosecutor Dusan Kováčik - haven't been met in the wake of the first protest in Bratislava on April 18. In addition, the students lament the fact that Kaliňák, Gašpar or Kováčik haven't even initiated any communication with them. "Our concerns about the Government being arrogant towards citizens and disregarding their demands have proven to be substantiated," said Straka.
The students have also launched a petition that, if at least 100,000 signatures are collected, will be sent to the Parliament. The petition is, first and foremost, aimed at ensuring a successful no-confidence motion in Kaliňák. A new interior minister should then remove Gašpar from office while new regulations enabling Kováčik's dismissal should be enacted. Several thousand people took to the streets in Bratislava on April 18 to express their dissatisfaction with what they see as a parade of corruption scandals that leaves the perpetrators unscathed.
Farská said that, in addition to Bratislava, the march in early June is also set to take place in eastern Slovakia, either in Prešov or Košice, as well as in at least one central Slovak city, including in Žilina. "In the other regional capitals, signatures for the petition will be collected," said Farská. "Admittedly, our proposals provide no guarantee of the change that we're aiming for, but at present there's not even a possibility for change, because the three people [meaning Kaliňák, Gašpar and Kováčik] are suspected of standing in the way of proper investigations into scandals involving corruption," said Popovič. Prime Minister Robert Fico said last week that he continues to trust both Kaliňák and Gašpar and that his Government is doing its best to address graft.
