SLOVAKIA: Corruption Haunts Governing Coalition

By Zoltán Dujisin Reprint | | Print |

Zoltán Dujisin

PRAGUE, Mar 31 2008 (IPS) - Slovakia’s left-wing government continues to survive media and opposition attacks over a series of corruption scandals. The scandals have not, however, diminished the government’s popularity.

The Social Democrats of Smer (Direction-Social Democrats) govern with the support of two smaller parties, the extreme right Slovak National Party (SNS) and the populist Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) of former prime minister Vladimir Meciar.

The coalition has survived in an atmosphere of tension, with each corruption scandal being followed by dismissals that upset coalition partners.

In late 2007 the Slovak government almost collapsed following a scandal in the Slovak Land Fund with lucrative state-owned lands being transfers to restitution claimants and later purchased by a company allegedly linked to Meciar’s HZDS at very low prices.

The scandals seem to reflect a power struggle among the ruling parties, but their coalition agreement stipulates that outstanding issues are to be solved internally, with the media receiving very little information.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been engaged in a long-lasting war with Slovak media, which he accuses of unconditionally supporting centre to right parties and their agendas.

While building his career on denouncing government corruption, Fico’s government has been in the spotlight for months due to a series of suspicious cases. “There have been many cases in the news of corruption in the police and in the ministries, but these cases are really tough to prove,” Slovak lawyer Jaroslava Farkasova told IPS.

The latest case denounced by Slovak media relates to overpriced orders for simple military barracks maintenance contracts in Slovakia’s defence ministry, a persistent hub of suspect practices under all previous governments.

High-ranking officials from the defence ministry dismissed lower-ranking employees accused of changing the conditions of tenders, but following pressure from opposition parties demanding political responsibility, defence minister Frantisek Kasicky resigned in late January.

Another controversy has involved the Prime Minister himself, who a few months before was accused by the opposition of taking an apartment for his family as a bribe from the private construction company Ikores in exchange for lucrative state contracts in the future.

Ikores did receive lucrative contracts in the present term, but government officials respond by noting that the previous right-wing cabinet awarded the same company even larger state orders, and note the that apartment in case is a simple two-room flat sold at normal price.

At the same time Slovakia has been hailed for some of the steps taken in the fight against corruption, primarily the 2004 setting up a Special Court dealing with high-profile corruption cases.

The court was created by the government headed by Mikulas Dzurinda (1998-2006), currently leader of the opposition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SKDU), to deal with a heritage of corrupt practices plaguing the government of Slovakia’s former prime minister Vladimir Meciar.

Meciar, now leader of the junior governing HZDS, is suspected of having helped his friends and himself profit from suspicious privatisations during his 1994-1998 tenure.

A survey of domestic companies publicised last year by Slovak daily Hospodarske Noviny mentioned the shady privatisation of state companies and their politically motivated subsidising as the main sources of corruption.

Non-transparent tenders, contracts awarded according to manipulated selection procedures, and arbitrary issuing of permits are some of the most common methods.

But under the present term the Special Court has been repeatedly threatened with downgrading or even abolition, much due to pressure of Slovak Justice Minister Stefan Harabin, a man faithful to Meciar.

“The government is arguing the court didn’t show many results, but we have to highlight they are dealing with sophisticated criminal offences in the police and government, which are very difficult to reveal or prove, so it’s difficult to measure their success in the short term,” Farkasova told IPS.

The court’s judges undergo security screenings, something not required by ordinary judges in Slovakia, and get salaries three times higher than their average colleagues.

It is believed that some courts in Slovakia, as well as a few politicians and police officers, are controlled by district underworld bosses.

Transparency international (TI) ranks Slovakia in 49th place in its world ranking of corruption, making it one of the worst performers in the EU, but with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania ranked lower. Government officials say perceptions of corruption have not worsened.

Last year the Slovak branch of Transparency International (TI) cast doubt on Fico’s anti-corruption policies, saying the trend towards reduced corruption was at risk with the government moving towards selective policies and increased spending, which TI claims increases opportunities for corruption.

Specific criticism was made against the Justice Minister’s failed attempt at abolishing Slovakia’s Special Court, and the absence of a clearly spelled out anti-corruption strategy, which presently focuses on repressive measures at the expense of preventive approaches.

In response Fico attacked TI head Emilia Sicakova-Beblava by noting her marriage to the Labour Ministry’s former state secretary, a member of the main opposition party SKDU.

A 2007 survey published by TI showed 22 percent of respondents admitted recently giving a bribe to a public official. The survey found that Slovaks consider corruption secondary to other priorities such as living standards, unemployment or health care.

Perhaps due to a history of successive governments involved in corruption scandals, Smer’s popularity has been left unscratched by the scandals, and Fico is the most popular Slovak politician ever.