President announces inaugural session of parliament for March 23

The inaugural session of Slovakia's new parliament will be held on March 23 (next Wednesday), Slovak President Andrej Kiska announced on Thursday. Kiska met Smer-SD leader Robert Fico, who had been commissioned to attempt to create a new government by this Friday. "The leader of Smer-SD, the party that won the most votes in the general election, told the president that he had reached an agreement with three partners in an effort to create a governing coalition. Based on this information and in line with the Slovak Constitution, the president will convene the inaugural session of parliament for March 23", said Martin Lipták from the President's Office press department. The newly elected legislators will swear an oath prescribed by the Constitution, thereby officially taking up their mandates. The plenary will elect the leaders of parliament and of the parliamentary committees. After this inaugural session, the outgoing single-party Government will hand in its resignation to Kiska, who, in turn, will appoint the new government with Fico at the head of a coalition made up of Smer, the Slovak National Party, Most-Híd and Sieť. The new government will then have 30 days to present its manifesto in parliament, which has to be approved by a simple majority.