Prime Minister Robert Fico considers the first year of his Government to have been scandal-free and characterised by stability and the successful consolidation of public finances. “We have done our most important homework, and that was the consolidation of public finances,” underlined Fico, adding that his Government is doing its utmost to squeeze the public deficit to 3 percent of GDP this year. Moreover, Fico thinks Slovakia is doing far better than other EU countries in the face of the international economic crisis, as we are one of the few countries that can actually bring on economic growth, he claims. Evaluating his year in office, Finance Minister Peter Kažimír said that closing last year with a general government deficit below 4.5 percent is an achievement that deserves words of praise as well as last year’s consolidation efforts. Responsible fiscal policy contributed to the trustworthiness of Slovakia’ public finances, Kažimír stated. On the other hand the minister admits that not all plans drafted after he took office have been realized to date.
The opposition sees the situation differently. The governing Smer-SD party is behaving like a typical post-communist party of the worst kind, stated SDKU-DS chairman Pavol Frešo and SDKU deputy Ľudovít Kaník in reaction to the evaluation of Robert Fico’s one year in office. According to him, Fico’s government committed 7 cardinal sins. “The first sin is record-breaking growth in unemployment.” The second sin, according to Frešo is the dismantling of the flat tax and hikes in taxes and deductions for all. A bad Labour Code, which has made the creating of new jobs more expensive and difficult –is number three, followed by the deterioration of the entrepreneurial environment and the drop in the competitiveness of Slovakia, the halt of economic growth and the "robbery" of pension savers of 55 percent of their savings. Last on the list of sins of Robert Fico’s government is, according to Kanik the Government's support of lawlessness, highlighting the Government’s backing of the President in his refusal to appoint prosecutor-general-elect Jozef Čentéš and the Government's obstructions to elect a new head of the Supreme Audit Office.
Katarína Richterová
