Slovak minister quits, not fires unpopular police chief

BRATISLAVA: Slovak Interior Minister Tomas Drucker said on Monday he would resign, after just three weeks in office, amid mass public protests demanding the sacking of the police chief following the murder of a journalist.

February´s killing of Jan Kuciak, who focused on corruption in business and politics, has led to the biggest public protests in decades against what people see as widespread graft. The three-party coalition led by Fico´s Smer party formed a new cabinet where Drucker, a political independent, took the Interior Ministry instead of Fico´s close long-term ally Robert Kalinak.

Drucker said he had not found any justification to fire Police President Tibor Gaspar, but felt that the issue was still causing deep divisions in society. "I am leaving because I couldn´t calm the situation and the polarisation remains," Drucker told reporters.