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Slovakia's Prime Minister Igor Matovic. Photo: www.shutterstock.com
Slovak political crisis threatens to derail reform drive
Robert Anderson in Prague
Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic offered to resign on March 21
in an effort to end a coalition crisis that has paralysed his centre-right government.
The two more mainstream parties in his four-party government – Richard Sulik’s libertarian Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS), and Veronika Remisova’s centre-right For the People party – have threatened to leave the coalition unless Matovic resigns by Tuesday. Economy Minister Sulik said last week that he and the other SaS ministers had attended their last Tuesday cabinet meeting.
Both parties have attacked the OLaNO leader’s erratic handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and in particular the way he has made policy on his own and then announced it on
Facebook. The final straw was when he secretly procured Russian Sputnik V vaccines despite their opposition, and then personally greeted the first shipment’s arrival at Kosice Airport.
Matovic finally offered to step down on Sunday evening, though he insisted
has based its demands, I’m willing to step down from the helm of the government and operate only as its member," Matovic announced on Facebook.
There is speculation that OLaNO Finance Minister Eduard Hegr might be a compromise candidate for prime minister.
“The only slim chance is that the prime minister steps down and the government goes on for another year”
he would only do so as part of
a wider cabinet reshuffle, including the resignation of Sulik. "If our coalition partners meet the commitments they’ve declared publicly and on which OLaNO
“The only slim chance is that the prime minister steps down and the government goes on for another year,” says Martin M. Simecka, commentator for the daily Dennik N.