Health minister who compared himself to Jesus Christ is leaving

Marek Krajčí, Matovič's most loyal minister, to step down on Friday.

Krajčí has always been loyal to the PM. He steps down on March 12.Krajčí has always been loyal to the PM. He steps down on March 12. (Source: TASR)

After the coronavirus outbreak in Slovakia worsened in autumn, Health Minister Marek Krajčí would continue nodding at anything PM Igor Matovič (both OĽaNO) said during his public statements.

Only a few weeks ago he admitted that he was the only one demanding a hard lockdown before Christmas and failed to gain the support of his fellow ministers.

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Even so, he had resisted pressure for his resignation until Thursday. Last week, speaking on the private television channel Markíza, he compared the calls for his resignation to the biblical phrase: "Crucify him," what people called out in the Bible when they demanded that Pontius Pilate condemn Jesus Christ to death.

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Krajčí has been known as a devoted believer. During the pandemic, though even criticised by his own coalition partners for failing to manage the situation, he said that God had big plans for Slovakia. That upset his critics even more.

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He will quit as minister on Friday, March 12, after two junior coalition parties SaS and Za Ľudí presented Krajčí's resignation as a condition for their permanence in the ruling coalition.

"Forgive me if things did not go the way they should have," he said during the March 11 press conference as a goodbye. He was visibly moved to tears.

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