Depending on who you ask, between 5,000 and 10,000 people called for the resignation of Slovakia’s interior minister Robert Kaliňák, still enjoys the Prime Minister’s confidence despite serious allegations made against him. Unlike last summer’s protests, which were organized by opposition politicians, the momentum for Tuesday’s anti-corruption protest came from two grammar school students, Karolína Farská and Dávid Straka. Two 18-year-old students decided to organize the protest and invited people via Facebook. No matter who has organized it, corruption could not have inspired more people to take to the streets. The first opposition protest, which took place before the complex Bonaparte, where Prime Minister Fico lives, also numbered around 5,000 participants. [...]
This protest was also supported by the Slovak President, Andrej Kiska, and the mother of Róbert Remiáš, an ex-police officer who was murdered in 1996 during Vladimír Mečiar’s rule. The students received a great deal of support from the media, especially from right-wing newspapers such as the daily Denník N, and the weekly .týždeň (Week). Journalists from these media outlets are staunch opponents of Robert Fico’s government. Famous Slovak anti-Fico actors and writers also joined their ranks. There are even several videos for which these journalists and actors helped the students to formulate their demands and prepare for their first major public appearance. It is difficult to say to what extent this initiative has remained an authentic work of the young Z-generation representatives and how much the formulation of their demands has been affected by the journalists and actors who have used this outpouring of dissatisfaction to serve their own conflicts with politicians. [...]
The radical left in Slovakia still refuses to join this crowd who protest against corruption. The radical left is afraid that its participation would legitimize the prevailing liberal-democratic status-quo. Simply put, any criticism of corruption without a concurrent criticism of capitalism will not lead to meaningful change. Such criticism from the left-wing activists and journalists (especially online, in the form of Facebook statuses and comments) has pointed out that the real problem is that corruption lies at the heart of the way in which capitalism operates. Above all, they argue that it is impossible for liberal democracy, which offers the machinery of the state the space to create this corrupt environment, to function effectively without corruption.
No comments:
Post a Comment