Who are the 500 “chosen ones” with the exception of Mikas? While the prime minister rebukes the citizens, Holý defends himself

For several weeks, Deputy Prime Minister Štefan Holý (We Are Family) mistaken why he did not observe quarantine after traveling to Britain. It turned out he had an exception.

Before the election, the current Prime Minister Igor Matovic promised that if he came to power, the papalism of the government of Robert Fico would end. The premiere resp. Petr Pellegrini and his ministers were often labeled by papal manners and enjoying some advantages over the common man.

He seems to have forgotten his own words when it comes to members of his government. Whether several times in the case of Parliament Speaker Boris Kollár (We Are Family) in cases of “hospital tea”, exporting “missky” in a limousine, opening his own ski resort despite recommendations, Igor Matovic quietly tolerates the scandal of Deputy Prime Minister Stefan Holý (We Are Family).

Transferred ministers?

In mid-December, the coronavirus spread to five members of the government. One of them was Deputy Prime Minister Štefan Holý, who at that time returned from Great Britain, where he traveled and still goes to visit his family.

The infected ministers assumed that they had fallen ill at cabinet meetings, even in the presence of Holý. Diary of N Holý confirmed this just before Christmas.

“It is common knowledge that my family lives in the UK. If my work responsibilities allow me, I try to spend time with my family, just like every father in the family. “ wrote it down on an SMS message. He no longer answered questions about whether he had a fresh PCR test or an exception. Journalists urged to “Did not speculate”. He didn’t answer any questions for the next three weeks.

The attitude of Kollár and Matovič, who referred journalists to “ask Holý”, was similar. The head of the We Are Family movement, Boris Kollár, defended the deputy prime minister that he had taken all the necessary epidemiological measures and said that it was certainly not he who had infected the prime minister and the ministers. We don’t know how he can know for sure.

500 people with exceptions

As journalists’ questions did not subside, it has now been shown that what is strictly true of the average citizen under the threat of fines does not apply to about 500 people. Holý did not have to sit in the domestic quarantine for ten days or undergo a PCR test.

Office of the Chief Hygienist on Friday for the Awning confirmed that the Deputy Prime Minister had an exemption from 20 November, and therefore neither quarantine nor a new PCR test was required for him.

He stretched journalists

Igor Matovič is sorry that Holý did not immediately admit to the journalists that he had such an exception. “I called him and told me that he only made this exception on December 13th and not since,” specified the Prime Minister in the program Saturday Dialogues on RTVS, stating that more than 500 people received exemptions from the office for various reasons. Matovic declares that he has not made any exception.

When asked whether the exemption had not been granted to him subsequently, the Prime Minister replied that, as he knew Holý, he knew about his exemption, but
“Stretched journalists a bit”. According to the prime minister, this was unnecessary and he had to admit the exception straight away.

Holý once made the exception when traveling across borders, says Matovič.

Such a “lukewarm” attitude of the authorities and some exceptions are bizarre in the context of advocacy and the call of citizens to accountability in press conferences, as it is from Great Britain that a new variant of the coronavirus came to us. In the show, the Prime Minister again appealed for responsibility and said that “An extreme number of people are not complying with the measures.”

Who are the exceptions for?

The Public Health Office (ÚVZ) of the Slovak Republic will open the issue of exceptions at the nearest central crisis staff. Should they be limited or abolished, the Office would welcome it. This was stated by the spokesperson of the ÚVZ, Daša Račková, in response to the granting of individual exemptions in the “Border Decree”.

She added that ÚVZ cannot give an exception to anyone on its own initiative, for its granting to any person a request from a member of the Government of the Slovak Republic is required.

“We understand that citizens can be sensitive to any exceptions,” reacted in the opinion of Račková. She recalled that exemptions could be granted from April 2020, based on the conclusions of the Central Crisis Staff.

“They are needed mainly because no legal norm can cover all life situations. To date, exemptions have been issued for thousands of citizens. “ she approached.

According to her, the Office is not competent to verify the seriousness of each of the hundreds of reasons stated in the applications. This falls within the competence of individual members of the government.

“ÚVZ SR calls on all persons who, at the request of a member of the government, obtained an exemption to behave as vigilantly as possible and to use it only to the extent necessary. The exception will not protect against the virus. “ the spokeswoman added.

KDH seeks an appeal

The non-parliamentary KDH calls on Deputy Prime Minister Štefan Holý (We Are a Family) to resign. The movement criticizes that Holý has an exception from the Public Health Office (ÚVZ) of the Slovak Republic, on the basis of which he did not have to comply with the measures related to his return from Great Britain in December.

“The Christian Democratic Movement considers the disregard for pandemic measures by Deputy Prime Minister Štefan Holý in the midst of a critical health situation in Slovakia to be shameful and demands his immediate resignation.” stated Stano Župa from the communication department of KDH.

According to the chairman of the movement, Milan Majerský, the behavior of the deputy prime minister not only undermines confidence in the measures, but is also a mockery of all people who respect government regulations.

“All decent and honest citizens consciously stay at home today, although many of them had to close their livelihoods helplessly and with clenched teeth. Ordinary citizens are tested for fear for the health and lives of themselves and their loved ones. And in the meantime, we are all forced to play a theater of excuses and violations of what has been commanded by those who have commanded it. “ added Majerský.

Updated 20:11 The non-parliamentary SNS calls on the Chief Hygienist of the Slovak Republic, Ján Mikas, to publish the written consent of the exception for Holý, as well as complete correspondence.

“There are serious suspicions that Vice-President Holé’s consent has been granted subsequently,” stated the party in the opinion sent to TASR by the director of the office of the chairman of the SNS, Andrej Danka, Zuzana Škopcová. According to the SNS, Mikas should also show the deputy prime minister’s request.

“If the Chief Hygienist fails to do so, he is exposed to suspicion of possible abuse of his function and it is not possible for both actors to continue to perform their functions.” added Škopcová.

On January 5, the non-parliamentary party Hlas announced that it would file a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Igor Matovič (OĽANO) and members of the government. The party’s chairman, Peter Pellegrini, informed about it at a press conference on Tuesday.

The party is suspected of committing the criminal offense of abuse of power by a public official or the criminal offense of spreading a dangerous contagious disease by the person of Štefan Holý.

Source: Dnes24.sk/TASR