Prime Minister Ludovit Odor presented the Government Manifesto to MPs on Tuesday, highlighting the basic goals of the programme and the priorities of the cabinet. The premier asked the MPs to express confidence in his caretaker government.
"I'm convinced that this programme can fill the bridging period between the two governments in a meaningful way and it can also fill it with high-quality and professional discussion and high-quality decisions. Of course, it will also be important to what extent we can set the dialogue for the future in favour of Slovakia," said the Prime Minister.
When presenting the manifesto, Odor stated that Slovakia is at a crossroads and isn't ready for the modern challenges of the 21st century. "It's in the interest of all of us to do our best to modernise the country and to be ready in time and able to respond to challenges that will not pass us by," he said.
The premier also declared that his government has the ambition to carry on a calm and cultured political debate.
The Government Manifesto contains few specific measures and a lot of boilerplate, OLaNO leader Igor Matovic declared during the debate on the Government Manifesto in Parliament on Tuesday. "It's as if the government has still failed to understand that it is the highest executive body of the state, not an analytical one," claimed Matovic.
According to the OLaNO chair, the Manifesto contains plenty of excuses about the limited time available to this government, which is why he fears that the European Funds money might be squandered. Matovic expects that sincethe cabinet is made of experts, they should be well versed in their fields from day one and not waste any time on learning the ropes in the ministries entrusted to them. He also voiced disappointment at the fact that his demands have not made it into the Government Manifesto. Even though the new Government won't receive confidence from the OLaNO party, its lawmakers won't have any problem with lending support to good bills.
The Prime Minister can count on all the votes of the SaS in the support of their Manifesto as well as in the vote of confidence in the government, SaS head Richard Sulik reiterated Tuesday. SaS agrees with most of the manifesto but Sulik presented several reservations. SaS supports the government's plan to prepare and propose an amendment to the Budget Responsibility Act for the next government. "But we demand the inclusion of the tax brake as another pillar of responsible management of public finances," added Sulik.
Sme Rodina MPs will abstain from voting on the Government Manifesto because they don't see specific measures to help people with high prices, MP and party vice-chairman Milan Krajniak stated in the debate on the programme. The MP pointed out that he found only two not entirely specific references to inflation within the manifesto. "I found the only thing that concerns helping households with high energy prices, and that is your commitment that the government will reconsider it and wants to redistribute the burden of high energy prices between companies, households and the state. And that is a problem," stressed the former labour minister. According to him, on the other hand, Sme Rodina will support any factual proposal that we're convinced can help people and we'll also say why. Likewise, if we consider something to be a bad proposal, we won't support it and we'll say factually why," he added.
Smer-SD requested that the Government Manifesto also include an evaluation of the current state of the country but this didn't happen, and the caretaker government gives space to the former governing coalition to recover and also to new parties to prepare for the snap election, Smer-SD leader Robert Fico said in discussion in Parliament on Tuesday. Fico reiterated that his MPs won't support the Government Manifesto in the vote of confidence in Parliament.
According to him, the Government Manifesto doesn't react to sharp price increases, drops in real salaries and the situation with mortgage loans.
Ex-premier and leader of the extra-parliamentary Democrats party Eduard Heger announced on Tuesday that he and the Independent MPs around him will express their confidence in the caretaker government and its manifesto in Parliament. "The manifesto reflects the continuity of reforms, investments and programmes that [my] government promoted, introduced and implemented," noted Heger. Another reason to support Ludovit Odor's cabinet is the fact that it's based the manifesto on the recovery plan, said Heger. Moreover, the caretaker government is pro-West oriented and aims to draw up a realistic budget and also puts focus on innovation and aid for the most vulnerable groups, the ex-premier added.
Last but not least, Heger noted if Parliament fails to express its confidence in the government, it'll have limited powers, which, according to the ex-premier, is needless.
Source: TASR
