The Parliament convened on Tuesday, January 21, to discuss a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, initiated by the opposition. A quorum was met with 144 MPs present. The opposition criticized the government’s policies, including changes to the penal code, foreign policy leaning towards Russia, and Fico’s recent visit to Moscow to discuss gas supplies with President Vladimir Putin.
The government dismissed the no-confidence proposal, with coalition MPs voting to limit the debate to 12 hours. Fico defended his administration, attributing tax increases to financial mismanagement by the previous government and justifying his Moscow trip as necessary for gas supply security, following Ukraine’s suspension of Russian gas transit. The discussions are expected to last until evening.
A few hours after its start, the government approached a non-public meeting, as per Fico’s request, allegedly because of confidential information. According to actuality.sk, for now it should only be during Fico’s speech. Closing the entire parliamentary session for public is also in talks.
Source: STVR, TASR, aktuality.sk
