BRATISLAVA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday officially dismissed Environment Minister Tomas Taraba from office, a day after the Parliament passed a vote of no confidence in the minister.
Pellegrini also entrusted Prime Minister Robert Fico with temporarily heading the Environment Ministry, as he has not yet received a proposal for the appointment of a new environment minister.
Under the Slovak Constitution, the Parliament may pass a vote of no confidence in an individual member of the government, after which the president is required to dismiss the minister concerned. The dismissal of a government minister by Parliament had occurred only once before in Slovakia.
The dismissal came amid a months-long dispute between Taraba and the Slovak National Party (SNS) which had nominated him for the ministerial post. SNS criticized Taraba over what it described as insufficient consultation on key materials prepared by the Environment Ministry, including issues related to zoning and wind power projects. Taraba rejected the criticism, saying he had been carrying out his duties as minister, while seeking to save public funds and ensure transparent international public procurement.
Fico had sought to mediate the dispute. At SNS's request, he submitted a proposal to the president in mid-September to dismiss Taraba, but later withdrew it, citing that such a move could threaten the government's parliamentary majority and its ability to function properly.
Taraba is expected to return to Parliament. He previously said he was prepared to serve as an independent lawmaker and support what he considered sound legislative proposals.
