- PS Chairman Michal Šimečka criticized Smer-SD for attacks on young people.
- Smer-SD accused the PS deputy of manipulating students during the protest.
- Michal Šimečka denied that students are being manipulated by the opposition.
- The member of the PS compared the situation with the period before 1989.
The government of Roberto Fico (Smer-SD) insults all young people again, lies and blames the opposition. He stated that Chairman of Progressive Slovakia (PS) Michal Šimečka in response to Thursday’s Smeru-SD press conference. According to him, it was just a distraction from Slovakia’s real problems. Simečka he added that young people have their own minds.
According to Šimeček, Smer-SD claims that PS MP Darina Luščíková is currently responsible for the problems in Slovakia. “Government politicians claim that our deputy pressured student Michal from Poprad to draw his opinion with chalk on the pavement in front of the gymnasium. The students themselves are said to be too young and cannot evaluate the circumstances themselves at all.” he stated.
He told the representatives of Smer-SD that young people in Slovakia know very well what “madness” they have led the country into and that they do not need an opposition to democratically express their disagreement. “And we in the PS will always stand up for them so that they can say what they think, just like our MP Darina Luščíková did in Poprad,” he added.
According to Luščíková, the government attacks those who dare to criticize it. “It reminds me of 1989, when, as a 15-year-old high school student, I heard from the communist leaders on television how manipulated we are. “Only because we expressed our opinion freely and non-violently, similar to the young people who are drawing messages to the government with chalk today all over Slovakia,” she said in the opinion. According to Šimeček, Smer-SD is inviting people to the rallies that will be held on November 17.
Smer-SD criticizes the PS for using young people in the political battle and spreading hatred and intolerance. At a press conference, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Tibor Gašpar (Smer-SD) pointed to a video in front of the Poprad gymnasium, in which Member of Parliament for the PS Darina Luščíková declared that a prime minister who despises young people has no business in school.
She filmed the video before the announced Friday (November 7) debate with Prime Minister Robert Fico. Subsequently, she also stood by a student who was writing messages for the prime minister on the ground. According to Gašpar, she tried to prevent the discussion from taking place. Smer-SD called on the media and the opposition to stop using the youth in the political struggle.
