What Heger’s demise as PM means for Slovakia

The situation represents a risk but also a chance for the president.

Eduard Heger announces he is stepping down from the post of acting prime minister. Eduard Heger announces he is stepping down from the post of acting prime minister. (Source: TASR)

Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Eduard Heger’s government will soon end; he will be replaced as acting PM by a central bank economist. Who will govern Slovakia now, and for how long? What does this mean for the future of Eduard Heger and his budding political project? And what will be the consequences for President Zuzana Čaputová?

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If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.

Why the government fell and what it means

The government that fell five months ago is now plummeting again, and looks likely to fulfil the dictionary definition of hitting rock bottom.

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It took just a few days. The pace of events accelerated in the second half of last week, after the opposition Smer party pointed to news that a €1.4-million grant from the Environment Ministry had been awarded to a company owned by the acting agriculture minister, Samuel Vlčan. The opposition and even Heger’s governing partners called on the minister to either return the grant or step down. At first he said he would do neither, but then chose the latter option.

The loss of yet another minister (Heger had earlier seen his finance and health ministers quit), prompted fresh speculation about whether the time had come for President Zuzana Čaputová to act on her previous warning to dismiss Heger’s cabinet at the first sign of dysfunction. Heger had remained in government on an interim basis despite losing a vote of confidence in mid-December. The plan was for him to shepherd the state through to an early election in late September.

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With no new appointments allowed to the interim government, Heger had acquired the health and finance portfolios – after the original office-holders stepped down – to add to his role as premier.

Then, shortly after Vlčan’s departure, acting foreign minister Rastislav Káčer announced on Friday that he too was resigning, reportedly on grounds of professional exhaustion. This left Heger in the absurd position of having to fill almost every senior role in his own government, and meant the end of the administration was effectively assured.

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