“I WAS the one who let you know, I was your sorry-ever-after. Seventy-four, seventy-five.”
No one seems to know exactly what The Connells had in mind when they were writing these particular lines to “74-75”, which became a smash hit across Europe in the mid 1990s. Just as no one seems to know what SaS boss Richard Sulík was thinking when he kicked Igor Matovič out of his party’s parliamentary caucus.
One thing that is clear is that Sulík could borrow the lyrics and they would finally make some sense – it is likely that the head of parliament started regretting kicking Matovič out right after, and it is certain that sooner or later the coalition will be left with only 74 or 75 votes in parliament. And thus without a majority.
The timing depends on how soon Matovič launches his own party, and the exact figure on whether Jozef Viskupič, who among the four “Ordinary People” seems to have the best relationship with SaS, stays or goes.
The current agreement only postpones the eventual split. It is reasonable to argue that prolonging uncertainty is a bad idea, because a permanent conflict within the SaS caucus is inevitable. Nonetheless, one has to be thankful for each month of relative stability this coalition can achieve. These will be a messy four years, but all alternatives are worse.
It is in Matovič’s and Sulík’s interest to realise that the country has bigger problems than their fight over who wrote what about whom in which blog.
If they don’t, they’ll end-up like The Connells – as one-hit wonders.
