BRATISLAVA, March 9, (WEBNOVINY) – The party 99%-Civic Voice will take part in the Saturday early elections despite doubts about authenticity of signatures on the party’s petition sheets for its registration. „Elections will take place legally and legitimately,” said Secretary of the Central Election Commission (UVK) Livia Skultetyova at a news conference on Friday. She explained that the Interior Ministry does not have the power to decide on disbanding the already registered political party. Police Corps President Jaroslav Spisiak confessed that the police failed to collect enough relevant evidence necessary for competent bodies to make a decision.
In late February Spisiak said that the police have checked some 70 percent of petition signatures. On Friday he however specified that the investigators attempted to contact 70 percent of persons who signed the petition. “This however does not mean that they have contacted them”, he said adding that many of these people cannot be accessed or are inaccessible. Another reason why the investigation has not been closed yet is that many people on sheets refused to say whether it is their signature or not, some did not remember or it was not possible to read the data. Moreover, many people signed on the sheets study or work abroad. The police will continue checking the signatures even after elections.
Spisiak categorically refused the anti-police campaign launched by the 99%-Civic Vote movement. The police did not have any intention to hurt or harm anybody’s good name, he underscored. The police have opened a criminal procedure on suspicions of fraud and illegal handling of personal data of citizens of the Slovak Republic. Spisiak however did not specify when the investigation will be closed.
The party filed a collective complaint with the Constitutional Court on March 5 against police president Spisiak. „We consider unlawful action of the police president incompetent influencing of the public opinion with negative impact on the outcome of the parliamentary elections,“ argued the party’s candidate Pavol Pavlik. The party accuses the police in its TV ads that they have been embroiled in the political fight.
SITA