MPs agree on election date

Opposition parties wanted summer vote.

Stock image.Stock image. (Source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)

Early elections will be held on September 30 this year after MPs voted to shorten the current parliamentary term by almost six months.

Of the 148 MPs present, 92 supported the proposal, 54 were against, and two abstained.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

The parties of the former government coalition - OĽaNO, Sme Rodina, SaS, and Za Ľudí - all voted for the September date.

Dates in late May and late June proposed by the opposition Smer and Hlas parties did not gain enough votes to pass.

President Zuzana Čaputová, who had previously said she would appoint a caretaker government if MPs did not agree on a date for early elections by the end of January, said after the vote: "Given that parliament's decision was made by the end of January, although again at the last minute, I will not proceed with the appointment of a caretaker government for the time being."

SkryťTurn off ads

"However, I would like to remind you that in the event of fundamental failures of Interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger's government, I am ready to appoint a caretaker government at any time for the remaining time until the snap elections," she added.

Reactions

Following the vote, OĽaNO leader Igor Matovič said he believes that his party will be able to come to an agreement with the leader of Sme Rodina Boris Kollár and the head of Za Ľudí Veronika Remišová on a coalition and continue to function until the elections.

Remišová reluctantly accepted the need for early elections. "After SaS, Smer, Hlas and extremists helped bring down the government, and the refusal of SaS to support the new government, it is, unfortunately, the only feasible way," she said.

SkryťTurn off ads

Meanwhile, Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini blamed former governing coalition party SaS for making Slovakia now face months of "absolute disruption of the state", adding that Slovakia was facing the biggest crisis in its history and the interim government is without mandate and authority.

Top stories

Action store in Zvolen, central Slovakia.

Dutch discount retail chain Action lures with ‘treasure hunt’ experience

Six Action stores already open, more in pipeline, firm says.


7. jun
Vrakuňa’s citizens presented apples washed in water with leaked toxins at the protest in 2016.

Chemical time bomb in Bratislava’s Vrakuňa keeps ticking

The state is failing to solve leaking chemical waste dump.


31. may
Jupiter (centre) and its Galilean moons: from left Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto. Juice with deployed antennas and arrays is in the bottom right.

From Košice to Ganymede: Slovak engineers are leaving their mark in space

Slovaks are active participants in two ongoing space missions.


20. may

History Talks: Rising from the flames

Bernolákovo palace was built in the calm following war and has survived multiple catastrophes.


3 h
SkryťClose ad