Finance Minister Eduard Heger (source: TASR)
PM Igor Matovič proposed to swap posts with Finance Minister Eduard Heger (both OĽaNO). Heger has been the most frequently mentioned possible replacement for Matovič in the prime-ministerial post.
Matovič also said the conditions he gave his coalition partners are forgotten.
"We will not insist on any of these conditions," PM Igor Matovič said one week after he laid out his demands as conditions for his own resignation.
Matovič delivered the news together with Sme Rodina leader Boris Kollár, Za Ľudí leader Veronika Remišová, and Heger.
Boris Kollár, chair of Sme Rodina, said that Heger has the support of his caucus. Heger noted that he is going to meet with the caucus of Za Ľudí and SaS and ask them for support. If he receives support from coalition partners, he will request a meeting with President Zuzana Čaputová on March 29.
SaS accepts the offer
SaS said in their statement that they appreciate Igor Matovič's step and they are ready to return to the government. “We believe that it was not an easy decision after his election result,” the statement reads. “We accept the offer of Eduard Heger.”
SaS stated they are ready to continue with their work in the government. Chair of SaS and former economy minister Richard Sulík announced that he, education minister Branislav Gröhling and foreign affairs minister Ivan Korčok are ready to return to their posts.
Earlier Sulík said that either both Sulík and Matovič would leave the government or they would both stay in the cabinet. Now, Sulík said they will both stay.
“We are ready and willing to agree with Matovič,” Sulík told media. “The time has come to unarm and look forward.”
Statesmanly gesture, Za Ľudí claims
“Za Ľudí appreciated the statesmanly gesture of Igor Matovič and has hope in the new beginning for the coalition,” said Veronika Remišová, chair of Za Ľudí, at a press conference. She added that the coalition will continue as four parties.
She also added that the caucus of Za Ľudí expressed its support for Heger. Remišová apologised that the coalition crisis took so long and said that justice minister Mária Kolíková who resigned this week is also ready to return.
Remišová said earlier on Sunday that she was going to resign on Monday if there is no solution to the coalition crisis by then. Coalition party Za Ľudí has given Matovič until Monday, March 29 to resolve the coalition crisis; otherwise, it will quit the coalition, it said.
Month-long crisis
The crisis has lasted practically all of March.
On Friday, the TA3 news channel published a letter by an anonymous OĽaNO MP stating that if Matovič quits as prime minister, some OĽaNO MPs may quit its caucus.
Matovič’s cabinet has lost six members so far. Economy minister Richard Sulík (SaS) and justice minister Mária Kolíková (Za Ľudí) resigned in order to meet Matovič’s demands. Both of them expressed their hopes that their decision would help preserve a coalition of four.
On Saturday, Matovič floated the possibility of a coalition without SaS. Remišová of Za Ľudí, however, said that her coalition was insisting on a coalition of four parties and a new cabinet with another prime minister.
