Page 11 - bne_newspaper_March_9_2018

Central Europe
March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Slovak opposition calls vote of no-confidence in Fico’s government
bne IntelliNews
The Slovak opposition has called a vote of no- confidence in Prime Minister Robert Fico's cen- tre-left government as the premier and President Andrej Kiska continued to attack each other over the country's ongoing political crisis following the assassination of Slovak journalist Jan Ku- ciak, who was investigating alleged links between the Calabrian mafia and the prime minister's office.
The opposition parties met the president individu- ally on March 7 and held a joint press conference at which they announced their intention to initiate a no-confidence vote against the cabinet. They lack the votes to be successful, but this offers an op- portunity for the junior members of Fico's coalition to switch sides and stand against the government.
"In this situation, the only fair option is to turn to the people to decide on Slovakia's future in an election," said Jan Kollar, head of the populist We are Family party, stressing the need to restore people's trust in the state.
Fico has said the opposition and the president are using the tragic death of the journalist and his partner to mount a coup. He has accused the president of conspiring with US financier George Soros, who has become a bogeyman for populist authoritarian leaders in the region, such as Hun- gary's Viktor Orban.
On March 7 he repeated his attacks on Kiska, tell-
President Andrej Kiska has called for major changes to the government of Robert Fico (pictured) to restore public confidence.
ing a press conference: “Today, a scenario begins in the presidential palace whose aim is to change the situation in the state, and to negate the re- sults of democratic elections.”
Fico said he needs time to discuss the crisis with the leader of his junior coalition partner Most-Hid, who is on holiday until next week. Most-Hid has threatened to withdraw from the cabinet un-
less Interior Minister Robert Kalinak is fired. “We will offer such solutions as to keep Most-Híd in this cabinet,” Fico said.
Kalinak has long been the target of opposition criticism for his links with controversial business- men. Labour Minister (Smer-SD) Jan Richter said on March 7 that Kalinak has the full support of the party leadership. However, as reported by Den- nik N on March 4, the leftwing premier's own party is beginning to come round to the need to sacrifice Kalinak.
Police President Tibor Gaspar has also come under attack recently for allegedly ignoring the presence of the Italian mafia in Eastern Slovakia, though he has been defended by Kalinak and Fico, who said on March 7 that “[Gaspar] is an absolute professional and has my full trust.”.
Aktuality.sk, news website published informa- tion that Slovakia has had information since 2013 from Italian officials about the Calabrian mafia contacts. However, Kalinak said over the weekend