Pandemic was a factor, but the main problem was Matovič

A long-time political analyst comments on the fall of the Heger government.

Grigorij MesežnikovGrigorij Mesežnikov (Source: Sme - Gabriel Kuchta)

If there had been no pandemic, the government would probably enjoy greater popularity and stability today. But the main problem of Eduard Heger's government was Heger's own party leader and finance minister, Igor Matovič. "There were conflicts [around Matovič] until the last moment. This was unfortunate for the ruling coalition," says political analyst GRIGORIJ MESEŽNIKOV, president of the Bratislava-based Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), a non-governmental think tank, in an interview with the Sme daily.

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The government's popularity and credibility has dropped sharply since the elections in February 2020, but the same thing happened to Slovakia's previous governments, too. How is it different now?

The difference is that the strongest party in the 2020 election did not have a solid electorate. Although OĽaNO's popularity increased several times before the elections, this was only the result of a combination of situational factors and not long-term trends. It was clear that the 25 percent it achieved in the election could not be maintained, no matter how successful the government was. [The result showed that] people needed to let Smer know that it should be defeated, and this is what they saw in Matovič.

The difference with other governments was the type of political parties that formed them. And another factor was the pandemic and how the government improvised in it.

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Would this government have been be more popular if it hadn't had to face all the crises it has?

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