Speaking on TV Markiza's politics talk show 'Na telo' (Tough Questions) on Sunday, President Zuzana Caputova said she believes that there's no threat of a post-election stalemate in Slovakia and that a government will be formed.
Caputova leaves it open as to whether the ruling majority in parliament will be achieved based on the mandate currently held by Smer-SD leader Robert Fico, or potentially by Michal Simecka, the leader of the Progressive Slovakia (PS), which finished second in the general election. According to the President, if a government fails to be formed it will be up to parliament to set the date of a snap election, but she doesn’t believe this will happen.
The head of the state stressed that she didn't consider the possibility of giving the initial mandate to form the government to someone other than the chairman of the party that won the election, referring to the constitutional tradition. "It can be broken only in exceptional cases and I haven't seen any in this case," she said.
Commenting on the 14-day deadline that Fico has been given, the President said she doesn't think it is a short time. She noted that the deadline was even a bit shorter in the past. "This is the deadline to gain a majority in parliament, not to fill all posts in the government," she stressed.
Asked about whether or not she would reject nominations for ministerial posts, Caputova said that the president can do so if there are serious reasons concerning a particular person. As an example, she gave charges pressed against a person nominated for the post of interior minister . "I would view this as a very controversial nomination," she said.(Markiza, TASR)
