Government Crisis: Slovakia Struggles Until New Elections

After a heated debate, Odur’s government lost a vote of confidence in parliament. Only 34 out of 136 deputies voted in favor of the government programme. However, there will be no further change of government because Odor enjoys the confidence of President Zuzana Caputova. Until the elections at the end of September, Odur is likely to be in charge of government affairs.

In addition to the entire opposition, much of the former ruling coalition has previously announced that it will vote against the government that has been sworn in since May. Accordingly, the two-day debate over the government’s statement was noisy and lively. Instead of professional statements, personal pretexts dominated. For example, the far-right party LSNS presented Odur’s assets as a reason for their refusal, as detailed by “Pravda”. Smell belongs to the Hungarian minority.

Scent Promotion Program

Although it was clear that the government would lose a vote of confidence, the 46-year-old former deputy governor of the Slovak Central Bank tried to promote his plan. He said he wanted to bring calm and stability to political discussions, “which is also a polished socio-political discussion.” There is neither time nor mandate to implement the reforms in their entirety. However, one will try to carry out the preparations for the successor government.

The priorities of the government programme, which was only 28 pages long, were to ensure the proper functioning of the state until new elections in September, to continue humanitarian, political and military aid to neighboring country Ukraine, which was under attack from Russia. , to restore public finances and provide state aid to vulnerable segments of the population of Ukraine from the inflationary crisis.

MEPs have criticized the government program for being too vague. The Smer-SD party under former Prime Minister Robert Fico described Odor as a “neoliberal who does not want to help Slovakia”. The prime minister himself responded to the attacks, according to Pravda, saying he wanted to respond to any comments that were “constructive and fact-based”. For a few seconds there was complete silence. “Thank you,” said the scent, and left.

The election campaign is already underway

Observers in the country also attribute the attacks to the fact that parliamentary parties are already involved in the election campaign. Former Prime Minister Igor Matović, leader of the strongest party in the previous coalition, OLaNO, sharply criticized paragraphs about the current “historically worst” situation of the country’s public finances. “Enormous shame and lies are spreading here,” he said.

On the other hand, Smer-SD President Fico complained that the expert government should only give the former coalition time to convene after its severe internal crisis and to prepare for new elections in September. His party is currently leading in the polls.

An expert government after a difficult struggle

President Caputova appointed the cabinet of experts on May 15 after a protracted political crisis in the country. According to the Slovak constitution, the new government has to submit its government statement to a vote of confidence in Parliament within 30 days.

Until the new election on September 30, Odor will be in charge of official business. The government will act only with limited powers and will not be able to make any fundamental decisions in the field of economics or foreign policy, similar to the minority conservative-populist government led by Edvard Heger, which has been in power for only a short time. He lost a vote of no confidence in December.

According to current opinion polls, Slovakia’s right-wing coalition parties of the former government are heading for a heavy defeat in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This raises fears of an imminent change in the direction of Slovakia’s foreign policy. Because the left-wing populist Smer-SD refuses to deliver more weapons to Ukraine in the long term.