The Freedom and Solidarity party is withdrawing from the coalition agreement and expects Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) to draft a new one that will reflect the current political state of affairs and incorporate Finance Minister Igor Matovic's (OĽaNO) ouster. If this does not happen by the end of August, all Freedom and Solidarity-nominated ministers will tender their resignations. The party passed this decision at its extraordinary extended republican council on Wednesday.
According to political analysts, the demand does not come as a surprise, as the personal conflict between Sulik and Matovic has been going on for a long time.
Experts predicted several scenarios that could come at the end of the summer. Erik Lastic, head of the political science department at Comenius University in Bratislava, described the time given to Prime Minister Eduard Heger by Freedom and Solidarity chair and economy minister Richard Sulik as a symbolic gesture. According to Lastic, the result may be that they will find a compromise to govern together or not. If Sulik’s party leaves, a minority government is an option for the coalition.
However, Lastic thinks the scenario of early elections is now even stronger. This might not be an easy step though, given the decision of the Constitutional Court, which pointed out that the constitution needs to be changed in parliament. According to Gabriel Estok, a political scientist from the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, as they say, politics is the art of the possible and therefore he would not rule out the possibility that the OĽANO movement would come to an agreement and Igor Matovic himself would back down.
He pointed out that more than a year ago it was almost unrealistic for him to give up the prime minister's post and it finally happened. Political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov of the Institute for Public Affairs says that the OĽaNO movement is still standing behind Igor Matovic and there are no signs that this could change. Moreover, the move by Freedom and Solidarity for time being will not have a major impact, as parliament will not be meeting in the summer and the government will not be in operation either. However, the situation could develop in a number of ways between now and September.
Source: RTVS
