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Central Europe
August 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Junior coalition member insists Slovak government will survive
bne IntelliNews
The junior parties in Slovakia’s ruling coalition want to continue the government, officials pledged on August 8 following an emergency meeting, but some sound more committed than others.
The summit was called by Prime Minister Robert Fico the previous day, after Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko announced the party’s withdrawal and demanded a new coalition agree- ment. The move crystalised inherent instability
in the disparate government, which was cobbled together by Fico in the wake of the March 2016 election, in which his Smer party surprisingly lost its majority.
The coalition has proved more stable than expect- ed. However, there have been regular suggestions that the SNS in particular stands ready to split from Fico under the right conditions. That was presumed to mean a gain in support that would increase its leverage might cause ructions. No such surge has been seen, but the SNS is under pressure over a scandal regarding EU funds at the science and education ministry that it controls.
While the withdrawal of the SNS would not auto- matically trigger early elections, it is a possibility should a new coalition agreement not be sealed. However, self preservation is a clear motivation to keep the government on the rails.
Polls published in late July showed the current coalition would fail to win enough seats between them to secure a majority. Smer would win just
Prime Minister Robert Fico.
26.5% of the vote, SNS 10.3% and Most Hid – the smallest party in the coalition – 6.2%.
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) polled at 14.2%. The neo-nazi People’s Party Our Slovakia/SNS would take 9.1%. Sme Rodina and the non-parliamen- tary Christian Democratic Movement-KDH also crossed the 5% threshold to enter parliament in the survey.
Bela Bugar, chairman of Most-Hid, claimed to journalists after the summit that the three parties fully intend to continue their partnership. “It was clearly stated at today’s session that there is no alternative to this coalition, so the coalition lead- ers are determined to continue,” he said, accord- ing to TASR. The party leaders plan to meet again on August 11.
Officials from SNS were less straightforward, and there are signs of confusion within the party. Vice- chairman Jaroslav Paska said he cannot rule out the possibility that SNS could withdraw from the government, but stressed that he’d prefer a differ- ent scenario.
The crisis has been sparked by Smer’s failure to respect the coalition agreement, and also efforts to discredit SNS, Paska claimed. The situation surrounding the education ministry was the final straw, he said.
However, Anton Hrnko, another vice-chairman of SNS, said the move by Danko was the most ex-