Long debates can be held about the elementary function and nature true politics. Either by applying the definitions of the ancient Greeks or the more enlightened approach of authors like Montesquieu, Rousseau, Jefferson, or the like, the core of the whole idea of politics is about a group making a collective decision - but note: not exclusively to be applied to governments alone. Meantime, keep the word "collective decision" in the back of your mind for a while.
Politicians, and especially those, who are in charge of running the state, are there by the sole virtue of the mandate, which they received from the public; not excluding those, who didn't vote for them directly. A governing party may have received perhaps the majority of votes, perhaps forming a coalition to gain a majority, yet the electorate as a whole is part of the public as well.
While, generally speaking, the aforementioned situation applies to regular modern democracies, and we regard the European Union to be like that, Slovakia has concocted an own distinct flavour of how government and politics in general should be functioning. The excesses in government have made me monitor the developments more closely and even with a strong stomach and nerves, one cannot stop wearily shaking one's head.
In order to fluff up Slovakia for becoming a NATO, EU, Schengen and Euro-zone member, after some dark years following the independence, the Dzurinda government has pulled the cart out of the mud (dirty mud!), and reforms - though sometimes not always extremely popular - were introduced to give the cart a direction.
The pain was worth it, as economically and legislatively the minimal requirements were met to enter the earlier mentioned institutions and unions, having brought Slovakia a huge advantage.
In 2006 came the turning point, as the elections were won by an opposition party, portraying itself as a modern, open, honest, progressive social democratic movement, but forming a coalition with the very same crook, who damaged Slovakia during the 1993-1998 years plus a nationalistic drunkard.
Unlike the glorifying evaluation of the 2006-2010 government by the prime minister himself, I can only sadly conclude, that this government has exceeded all the limits possible of destroying the state; a puppet-president, embezzlements of billions of Euros, dodgy tenders, stealing of Eurofunds, intimidating of judges and tightly controlling the judicial system, politicising the police force and labour unions, obstructing justice, curbing the freedom of press, and more. Up to the point, that apparently both the FBI and the Swiss services are beginning to point at dangerous connections close to the political top in the case of the emission quote scandal.
Fico is - like his examples from Soviet times - refusing to answer any questions. And the minimal justifications given are too ridiculous to be even remotely probable. It is difficult to make a homo sovieticus realise that the press - or the public - has the right to know; he is there for the people and not the other way around. The unravelling of some scandals is becoming dangerously close, and I wonder how much time still is needed, to make the curtain finally fall for this gang.
Fico has cleverly (and knowingly) constructed things around him, in any case, he bears ex officio the political responsibility. Clearly, the concept of making a collective decision (as elicited in the introduction) is not exactly what these people had in mind - while accumulating large funds to fill somebody's pockets shows only, that for them politics is merely a pension fund; to make sure they can live happily ever after. But criminals usually do make a mistake somewhere, and such a mistake is fatal.
When following discussions on the social networks, I sense that several thousands of people are fairly aware of this, yet little is happening. A wasted chance. If I imagined this government in a Scandinavian, British, Dutch or perhaps German setting, among others, I bet that the age old tradition of defenestration would be applied without mercy and without any unnecessary delay. But perhaps it is like a volcano: the longer the pressure builds up, the more severe the explosion will be. Prime-minister Fico: Take heed!
MS
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