The ruling-coalition Smer-SD party announced at its special session on November 20 that the crisis in the governing coalition was "serious," as the ĽS-HZDS was opposing further measures aimed at removing the consequences of the transfer of land at the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) carried out by an LS-HZDS nominee.
It all started when Slovak PM Fico said that contracts signed by SPF vice-chairman Bríza were suspicious. As a result, Fico insisted that Agriculture Minister Miroslav Jureňa (a HZDS nominee) dismiss Bríza, or lose credibility. Fico's initiative was followed by an ultimatum from Mečiar that if the PM expressed his loss of trust in Jureňa, HZDS would express its lack of confidence in Fico. Fico stressed that his party would not be intimidated and viewed the assumption of personal, political and legal responsibility for the scandal as a matter of principle – even if it led to a collapse of the governing coalition. Finally, Bríza resigned on November 15. He has kept his position on the SPF board, however. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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