BRATISLAVA, June 26, (WEBNOVINY) — On Tuesday, the Slovak Parliament voted to dismiss Miloslava Zemkova from the post of Director General of the public-service Slovak Radio and Television (RTVS) that she held for less than eighteen months. Eighty-two out of the eighty-five deputies present in the 150-member house supported her dismissal, two deputies were against it and one refrained from voting. Most of the opposition deputies walked out during the vote.
The stated reason for Zemkova’s dismissal was that she published a call for submitting bids for renting premises for a media complex but did not inform about this the RTVS Council in advance, which the head of the Parliamentary Culture and Media Committee, SMER-SD’s Dusan Jarjabek considers a violation of the law. The call was published on April 3, while the RTVS Council was formally informed about it on April 19. Jarjabek argued that publication of the call may be considered as a step leading to conclusion of a contractual relation. As the contract’s value was to exceed EUR 100,000, Zemkova violated the law, Jarjabek claimed.
The opposition, in contrast, claims that not all legal requirements for Zemkova’s dismissal were fulfilled, and the governing SMER-SD party wanted to politically take over the public-service television and radio. According to Daniel Krajcer from the SaS party, a publication of a call does not necessarily lead to concluding a contract and thus Zemkova was not obliged to inform the RTVS Council in advance. Krajcer also claims that it is not certain whether the price would exceed EUR 100,000.
SITA