On October 29, Construction and Regional Development Minister Igor Štefanov survived a third no-confidence vote, the SITA newswire reported. Fifty-four of 121 deputies present in 150-member parliament voted to oust him and 66 lawmakers voted against the proposal initiated by the opposition. To recall the minister at least seventy-six votes were necessary.
Smer deputy Darina Gabániová refrained from voting and 14 members of the 15 MPs from the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) did not vote. Former Agriculture Minister Zdenka Kramplová of that party backed the minister in the vote.
The opposition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union party (SDKÚ), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the ethnic Hungarian SMK party objected to the fact that the previous minister, Marian Janušek, had been replaced by a person who the opposition also claims was involved in the €120 million bulletin-board tender. The opposition said other reasons to oust the minister were the loss of trust in Brussels and harmed reputation of the Slovak Republic abroad. The opposition parties also mentioned the European Commission's refusal to reimburse funds already spent under the contract.
Prime Minister Robert Fico did not attend the parliamentary session and the MPs from HZDS did not participate in the debate, SITA wrote. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
