THE OPPOSITION failed in its attempt to recall Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda. In a July 6 vote of no confidence, initiated by the opposition Smer party, only 60 MPs supported the PM's removal.
Seventy-six votes were necessary to unseat Dzurinda, the Pravda daily reported.
The parliamentary debate yesterday turned into a quarrel between Smer leader Robert Fico and the leader of another opposition party, Vladimír Mečiar of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia.
While Mečiar said that Fico was using parliament for pre-election propaganda, Fico accused Mečiar of not conducting proper opposition politics because he did not join in the parliamentary debate about Dzurinda and his government.
Dzurinda managed to defend his position thanks to independent MPs, 13 of whom did not show up for the no-confidence vote. Several opposition MPs also helped the PM's cause by being absent from parliament yesterday.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
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