Her former party leader and current president Peter Pellegrini reacted to the information that Zuzana Dolinková (Voice) is ending her position as Minister of Health. The head of state wants to meet Dolinková in the next few days and find out the reasons for her resignation. Pellegrini is also planning to meet with representatives of health professionals next week.
Dolinková announced on Friday that she will go to the president in the next few days and hand over her resignation to him. She identified the consolidation package, which the parliament approved on Thursday, as the main reason for her resignation. She claims that she informed her colleagues at the coalition councils that the planned consolidation should not affect the health sector at all, because there would be mass dismissals of doctors.
The office of the president informed that Pellegrini is ready to receive Dolinková in the coming days and to talk openly with her about the reasons for her announced abdication. He also wants to meet with representatives of doctors, nurses and paramedics in order to get to know their requirements and their view of the situation in the healthcare sector.
On Friday, Dolinková also stated that as a minister she does not even feel support in the coalition and that it is not possible to fulfill the program statement of the government. As Minister of Health, she was not present at several key negotiations where, for example, Hlas leader Matúš Šutaj Eštok took part in her place. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) recently hinted at Dolinka’s possible replacement, when he said that if he cannot handle the financial situation in the sector, he will have to handle it somewhere else. “This is a normal political process,” said the Prime Minister some time ago.
On Friday, Dolinková also admitted the lack of support from a key person in the government. “Without the strong support of the government and the coalition, without the support of the prime minister, without the support of the finance minister, unfortunately, you cannot change things in such a department as health care,” she said.
In her statement, the head of state recalled that healthcare is one of the key sectors from the point of view of people’s quality of life, which Fico’s government is committed to increasing in its program statement.
“I understand the acute need for consolidation of public finances as a necessary tax for the management of previous governments. On the other hand, I am convinced that the fundamental priorities of the government should be drawn from the structure of general rehabilitation measures. The announced resignation of the Minister of Health and the announced reasons so far indicate that the health sector is not such a priority,” Pellegrini added.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
