The new government had a photo-session before its first meeting. (source: TASR)
Together 79 of 85 coalition MPs voted for the manifesto of the four ruling parties: Smer, the Slovak National Party (SNS), Most-Híd and Sieť. While 61 deputies voted against the statement, two abstained from the vote, the Sme daily reported.
Two of the highest state officials and representatives of the strongest coalition parties were missing during the voting due to health problems: PM Robert Fico and Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko. The third one, President Andrej Kiska, however came to the parliament and gave a speech after the voting. He appreciated the quick creation of the government and the parliament after the March elections.
“People expect that the government and the parliament will start working properly,” Kiska said in his speech, as quoted by Sme.
He stressed that it will depend on the cabinet and also democratic opposition what will happen in following months and years.
“Because on this it will depend whether we will progress in things which need to be moved forward – whether we will return the citizens trust in the state, in functioning democracy – whether the life in Slovakia will improve – and whether we will prevent a further increase in extremism and radicalism,” the president said, as quoted by Sme.
No government established since 1989 has taken power in such a difficult international situation, and no government, apart from after the 1998 election, has had faced such a big job in improving domestic affairs, Kiska stressed.
According to its programme statement, the new government will try to continue progressing and remove the dividing lines of the 1990s. The coalition described itself as the historic compromise between the right and the left, but political scientist Grigorij Mesežnikov said it is not reflected in the document.
“The input of coalition parties Most-Híd and Sieť is not reflected in priorities,” he told Sme.
