Prime Minister Iveta Radičová has survived a no-confidence motion initiated by the opposition parties Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS), the TASR newswire reported.
The opposition criticised Radičová for poor leadership of the country, and made allegations about a case of suspected corruption linked to the construction of a government-subsidised biathlon stadium in Osrblie and cover-ups of up alleged party cronyism during a tender to rent tax offices in Košice which was won by a company, Nitra Invest, owned by Ondrej Ščurka, a member of Radičová’s Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ).
During the 12-hour debate in parliament, Radičová was supported by the entire coalition, including Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulík, whose Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is meanwhile refusing to support government-backed measures to change the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) and create a permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
The coalition is experiencing ongoing problems, as evidenced by the failure of negotiations – over a second bailout package for Greece and eurozone financial stability mechanisms – that took place between the four parties on September 12 in Častá Papiernička. The deadlock means that a parliamentary vote on most of the measures, which were to have been discussed by MPs this month, has been postponed until October.
“There are no clear agreements on several things, so we want to avoid other disputes which could only deepen the tension in our relations,” said SDKÚ deputy caucus chair Jozef Mikuš.
“There is no accord,” confirmed Sulík, as quoted by the TASR newswire, after the negotiations in Častá Papiernička. “We have spent nearly the entire day discussing the funds. We were right to agree that we would be the last country to hold a vote [on the funds], which provides us with latitude for more discussion.” He added that time will tell how it all pans out.
The coalition has postponed about one third of its draft amendments, and votes on several nominees, including the candidate for the post of head of the National Security Authority (NBÚ), Kamil Krnáč, an SaS nominee, until the conclusion of negotiations on the eurozone financial mechanisms.
Sources: Sme, TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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