Police Chief’s resignation only bare minimum, states President

Police Chief’s resignation only bare minimum, states President

The shock resignation of Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar on Tuesday is only the required minimum, and the Government needs to "start working", said President Andrej Kiska following the surprise announcement that Gašpar will step down on May 31. "I welcome the fact that the prime minister has decided to start putting the Interior Ministry in order himself [as acting interior minister]. I view the announced departure of Police President Gašpar at the end of May as a necessary prerequisite for the Government of Peter Pellegrini to attempt to defuse the situation in society," wrote Kiska in a social network post.

According to Kiska, Gašpar squandered every "opportunity to make a more-or-less dignified departure". The head of state underlined the importance of picking out the right person for the job of interior minister. "Trust in the entire Government hinges on how resolute the steps taken by the Interior Ministry will be and the ability to promote trustworthy people to police leadership posts," he said, adding that the new minister must increase guarantees of independence and objectivity when it comes to the investigation into the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.

The announcement of Gašpar's departure was met with mixed reactions from both ruling coalition MPs and members of the opposition. Opposition MP Boris Kollár from the We Are Family party stated that "It was the only possible sensible solution that [Prime Minister] Pellegrini embraced. He could have done it on Monday (April 16) and so spared Tomáš Drucker," with Drucker announcing his resignation that same day.

Governing coalition MP Anton Hrnko from the Slovak National Party however is displeased with Gašpar's resignation, worried it could affect the efficiency of the investigations of murdered journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. "It's not a good solution to make changes in posts during an investigation because it can affect the course of action," said Hrnko, adding that he expected the current Police Corps president to be replaced only after the adoption of a new law on electing the candidates for this post.


Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: TASR

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