THE OPPOSITION party Smer is preparing a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda.
According to Smer leader Robert Fico, fraud, corruption and illegal privatization activities reported by the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) and made public May 19 [see adjacent story] indicates that Dzurinda and his cabinet should fall.
"We want to ask seriously, doesn't one of the companies mentioned by the report represent the benefactor who took over Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union's Sk22 million (€564,000) debt? Why doesn't Dzurinda want to explain who it was, and under what circumstances this happened?" Fico asked at a press conference.
"We have always questioned the government's 'tiger' reputation. It is more a magpie than a tiger," he said.
According to the TASR news agency, Fico thinks Dzurinda is "politically disabled". Otherwise he would have replied to the "brutal information in the SIS report". Fico believes that the severity of the information would cause the immediate fall of any other European government.
"Anything is better than the current coalition," he said, responding to Dzurinda's statement that his coalition is the best alternative in Slovakia.
Smer will try to gain support from other parties for the no-confidence motion and will likely lean heavily on independent MPs. Fico expects the motion could take place during June's parliamentary session.
