Justice Minister Mária Koliková (For the People party) announced her resignation on Tuesday afternoon. She said she took this decision in order to contribute to calming down the current crisis within the Governing coalition. On Sunday Prime Minister Igor Matovič (Olano) conditioned his own resignation from the top position of the Government on that of Justice Minister Mária Kolíková. "I cannot say that the big reform of the court system that I have been working on did not have political support but I can't work on it in the current political atmosphere," said Kolíková after announcing her resignation.
The government of Igor Matovič has been embroiled in a crisis over the circumstances surrounding the purchase of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine earlier in the month, although tensions within the coalition go back much earlier. They have been fed by disputes between Prime Minister Igor Matovič and Freedom and Solidarity party leader and now former Economy Minister Richard Sulík.
