I'm stepping down from my office, Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) told a press conference on Thursday, adding that the two junior coalition parties conditioned remaining in the government on his resignation. Krajci noted that he doesn't want to make "obstructions" and is not stuck on his chair.
Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) praised Krajci's work at the ministry, adding that the coalition was close to disintegration. Matovic considers Krajci's resignation to be the most absurd in history. According to him, he was often abandoned "like a finger" in the fight for people's lives and health. According to Matovic, the Health Minister should step down gradually. The premier would like Krajci to leave when the vaccination with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine starts. The purchase and permission for the use of this vaccine in Slovakia provoked the start of the coalition crisis.
A personnel change at the helm of the Health Ministry might bring new energy into pandemic management and kickstart major reforms in the health-care sector, chair of the junior For the People coalition party Veronika Remisova stated on Friday. She added that it's important for the coalition to improve the way in which it operates, including communication internally and outwards.
"This isn't an attempt to honestly self-reflect on himself by the minister, who failed fatally in his office but a political victim for the continuation of the governing coalition," said Independent MP and leader of the extra-parliamentary Voice-SD party Peter Pellegrini on Thursday noting that Krajci should have never become minister.
Chair of non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia Irena Bihariova pointed out that the resignation of the Health Minister instead of the Prime Minister would only encourage Matovic to act more boldly in his "shenanigans" because he knows that none of the coalition partners will ever dare to challenge him again. The extra-parliamentary Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) stated that Health Minister Marek Krajci's resignation would not help if his successor is not an autonomous person who will be respected by the government and Parliament, adding that the health care system has long needed a more vigorous enforcement of important decisions.
Source: TASR
