The senior coalition OLaNO party considers the question of a minority government to be premature, and it continues to reject Freedom and Solidarity's (SAS) demand for the resignation of party leader Igor Matovic from the post of finance minister, TASR learnt on Friday. Meanwhile, the junior coalition 'For the People' party believes that SaS and OLaNO will resolve this personal dispute in a mutually acceptable manner.
"We regret that the SaS party, despite its past experience, is threatening to break up another government of which it forms part. However, there's still room to step back, and we believe that SaS will eventually choose cooperation in delivering results instead of running away from responsibility," Peter Dojcan of OLaNO's media team told TASR. As he added, before SaS's demands were published, OLaNO issued a clear statement in which it disagreed with the finance minister leaving the Cabinet. "This position remains valid, and so any debate about Igor Matovic's departure is closed for us. We consider questions about a minority government to be premature at this moment," stressed the party.
The 'For the People' party still thinks that the situation can be dealt with. "The SaS party hasn't left the Government yet, and we believe that [SaS head] Richard Sulik and Igor Matovic will resolve this personal dispute in a mutually acceptable way. The best solution is to continue with a four-party coalition," it emphasised, reiterating that politicians shouldn't burden the public with their disputes because people aren't interested in them. "The only winner of these disputes is [Smer-SD leader] Robert Fico, the mafia and the oligarchs," stated the party.
The dispute in the coalition reintensified after Parliament overrode President Zuzana Caputova's veto on the anti-inflation package sponsored by Matovic. The parties accused each other of voting with the fascists.
SaS subsequently withdrew from the coalition agreement last week, calling on Prime Minister Eduard Heger [OLaNO] to draft a new one that will reflect the current political state of affairs and incorporate Matovic's resignation. If the conditions aren't met by the end of August, all SaS-nominated ministers will tender their resignations. OLaNO stands behind Matovic, however, rejecting his resignation.
Sulik announced on Tuesday (July 12) that SaS is no longer part of the coalition. The premier then appealed to the liberals to take a step back. Both parties have stated that don't want an early election. Heger is set to meet Sulik over the weekend, followed by Caputova.
Source: TASR
